Globe Trotting
by willynilly23
Summary: Post 4X16 Hiatus Series Annie and Auggie don't make it right back to DC
1. Mtwara P1

Globe Trotting: Mtwara Part 1

Notes: My hiatus fic project involves sending Annie and Auggie around the world prompted by a random city generator. The city that turns up will determine if they are working or vacationing, but it should provide enough research fodder to keep me going for a while. I am starting right where 4X16 left off and going off book, hope you enjoy!

Thanks to Epona3 for letting me talk it out this weekend !

***555***

Annie flipped the phone shut and turned her face to the sun and fresh air of the bay. She thought about every time Auggie had led her to safety and every journey home over the past 4 years. Finally exhaustion over took her and she found her way below deck to a small cabin with a comfortable bed.

She was up and showered and dressed as they approached the aircraft carrier, a tender ship coming out to meet them and take her the rest of the way.

"Hello Ma'am," a young soldier greeted as he helped her navigate the transition from vessel to vessel. Annie thanked the owner of the yacht Auggie had managed to procure and waved to the crew as she sailed away.

Once aboard she was greeted by an officer who handed her a sat phone and told her to call Calder Michaels immediately.

"This is Michaels," he answered.

"Calder, it's Annie," she said sounding more like herself.

"Walker, good to hear your voice. Listen, I hate to do this, there is no time to waste though. Oliver Lee has proven an incredible source. He knows he cannot go back to China and he is willing to trade intel for security in the states. He has outlined 6 active missions Henry had in play, we have 5 of them covered, we need you to stop the 6th, our resources are stretched in the region," Calder rushed.

"Um, OK," Annie was surprised and quickly regrouped for another mission.

"I know you are due some R&R, but there is a bomb scheduled to go off in 72 hours and that time table may be moved up if word of Henry's death make it to his cells."

"Where?"

"Tanzania, Mtwara to be exact. Auggie will fill you in on all the details, Admiral Canton has a plane inbound to get you," Calder reported.

"Auggie?" Annie asked.

"We re-routed him, he'll meet you in Mtwara. You are not on your own any more Annie, you are working with CIA support and from what I have seen you and Auggie can move mountains. Stop this and you two can take as long as you want before coming back to DC," Calder said sincerely.

"OK, I'll head for my ride," Annie smiled into the phone.

***555***

Twelve hours later Annie landed on a grass covered air strip, the ocean bright blue beyond. A jeep was waiting for her, a local man told her Mingus sent him and she hopped in for the short ride to a hotel. The old white stone structure looked cool and welcoming, big ceiling fans thwacking against the warm humid air and pushing through the open lobby from one set of French doors to another.

She saw him then, sitting in a wicker chair, his head tilted back and eyes closed, his breathing steady, but not steady enough for sleep. He looked exhausted, but so beautiful.

"I'm here," was all she said and his eyes opened, his head tilted forward and a smile broke out that took ten years off his appearance.

"Welcome to Tanzania," he said as he stood.

"Why are you down here?" she dropped her bag on a loveseat and moved closer to him.

"I got a room, but I didn't know… I wasn't sure, if…. We haven't really talked, so if you want your own room I can," he was using his hands to try and make more sense of his conflicted feelings.

She moved closer, brushed her hand against his arm before reaching under that arm and cupping his hip, the other hand moving to his stubbled jaw and pulling him to her. She kissed him softly but with conviction, felt him tremble under her hand, moved closer when his hands encouraged it.

"One room is fine," she smiled as she pulled back.

"OK," he nodded and kissed her one more time.

"Mr. Anderson," a hotel employee appeared, "excuse me."

"Yes," Auggie replied, his hands still on Annie.

"Your room and dinner are ready whenever you are Sir," the clerk spoke lovely English.

"Asante," Auggie replied in Swahili.

***555***

Annie used the old school metal key to unlock the door to a big airy room, the walls and floor white wood, a dark wood four poster bed and desk with 2 chairs the only furniture in the room. A set of glass doors open to a patio facing the thick vegetation below and the ocean just a short distance beyond.

She guided Auggie to the desk and he placed his bag and cane there as she moved about, finding a closet and a large en-suite bathroom. Before she could say anything there was a knock at the door and Annie opened it to another staff member with a rolling cart covered in food. She thanked him and rolled it right out on to the patio.

"I know we need to discuss the mission, but do we have time to just sit and eat first?" she asked as she moved the chairs out to bookend the table.

"Of course," he smiled softly and took her arm as she led him to their dinner.

"What's on the menu?" Auggie asked.

"You ordered it," she laughed.

"I just told them to send dinner," he shrugged.

"Rice, some sort of green vegetable that looks like okra maybe, a stew that appears to be coconut based with fish and curry, flat bread and a bottle of what I assume is wine," she reported.

"It smells good," he mentioned.

"It looks delicious, but it is a traditional African service," she moved her chair closer to him and started arranging the dishes.

"I got pretty good at this," he said while not going into any more detail about the amount of time he spent in Africa with Parker.

"Well we both look like we could use a bath, so if we end up wearing our dinner it won't be too bad," she laughed and handed Auggie a hot towel to wash his hands.

Annie dug in first, she took a small ball of sticky rice with her fingers and dipped it into the stew working it into the right consistency to make it to her mouth without dripping too much on herself.

"Mmmm, hot," she blew out a breath.

"Temperature or spice?" Auggie asked as he found the rice.

"Both," she smiled, "but so delicious."

They ate in companionable quiet, murmuring words of delight at the spicy food. A sliced mango serving as dessert. Annie finished her wine and Auggie could tell the glass was empty when she put it down.

"More?" he asked finding the bottle.

"We do need to work," she hesitated.

"All we have to do tonight is a briefing, no action until morning. Why don't you take a second glass of wine and take a bath?"

"You trying to get me drunk?" she laughed.

"No, I am trying to let you have a little bit of rest between missions. You've been through a lot Annie, you need a break," he ran a hand over his face.

"You too," she reached out for his hand.

He was about to argue with her, but instead he just nodded his head and squeezed her hand.

"How about you join me for that bath, you can brief me in the tub," she stood and took the wine and their empty glasses in one hand and offered the other arm for Auggie.

Annie drew a nice bath, poured them some wine and helped Auggie settle at one end of the large tub then she stripped off the clothes she had been wearing for over 48 hours, grabbed her own wine and slipped into the tub at the other end, her toes sliding along Auggie's legs and tucking themselves behind his hips.

"Nice," she sighed and let her head tip back against the cool stone tub.

"It is," he agreed and used his free hand to massage the muscle of her calf.

"What are we doing here?"

"In the tub, you invited me," Auggie said confused.

"In Tanzania, Auggie. What is the mission?" she clarified as she flexed her muscles under his strong fingers.

TBC…


	2. Mtwara P2

Globe Trotting: Mtwara Part 2

Notes: Thanks for the nice reviews, glad you all like the idea. I had a lot of fun researching Tanzania: info on food, hotel and the infrastructure in the mission are all based on information I found online (we all know the internet isn't fool-proof, but I am trying to be as accurate as I can be.)

***555***

"So Calder told me Henry's teams have 6 'activities' planned," Auggie heard the water splash when Annie used her hands for the air quotes.

"Yes, we have the privilege of a two-fer. Bombs are planned for both the Mkapa Bridge and the Mtwara Pipeline," Auggie began.

"Infrastructure," Annie nodded and sipped her wine.

"Henry's specialty. While there will certainly be some loss of life, both areas have villages nearby, it is all about the money here. The Bridge was funded by the US, ten years ago, about $30 Million, small change compared to the pipeline which was just finished. The government borrowed $746 million US in loans for a couple projects including 532 km of gas pipeline. Its destruction would decimate an already fragile economy," Auggie reported.

"Then Lexington swoops in and saves the day, obviously there isn't much profit here though," Annie tried to work the puzzle.

"No, but there is a port that Lexington could seize and use for all sorts of nefarious purposes. Not to mention a training ground for new terrorists, Lexington would own Tanzania, at least from Mtwara to Dar-es-Salaam."

"Why blow up this end, Dar-es-Salaam would be much more public?" Annie asked.

"It is also a lot more secure, our surveillance photos indicate that both the bridge and the pipeline are practically unmonitored at this end, easy access," Auggie shrugged.

"Who's our mark?"

"Cell leader is a friendly fellow named Lars, Oliver said his team is bigger than the others, two sites and all, there are 8 of them altogether. Eyes here on the ground say they are holed up in a small hut not far from the bridge, but the explosives are not on site," Auggie muffled a yawn.

"What is our play?" Annie reached under the water and found his knee and squeezed.

"According to Oliver, the bomb is set to go off Monday morning, we have 36 hours to roundup the team and isolate the explosives. We also have to hope that word doesn't make its way to Lars that Henry is dead, Oliver was unsure how some of the top people in Henry's organization are going to react to news of his death," Auggie ended concerned.

"Maybe I should do an initial pass tonight, try to get a listening device in that hut," Annie moved to get out of the tub.

"We have an asset keeping watch, if they do anything we will get a call. You need to sleep Annie, in a real bed for the whole night. For your safety and the benefit of the mission, I really insist you sleep," he slid his hand from her calf to her foot and massaged the arch in a way that he knew made her melt.

Annie reached for a bar of soap, she unwrapped it and gave it a sniff. It smelled clean and fresh, like a handmade goat's milk soap, but not too flowery for Auggie. She lathered up a wash cloth and handed it to him before doing the same.

"Clean up, we need to go to sleep," she smiled.

After rinsing off with the handheld shower, Annie handed Auggie a towel and grabbed one for herself. She raked her fingers through her hair and braided it, using Auggie's tooth brush she brushed her teeth and rinsed out her undergarments in the sink and hung them near the breeze from the ceiling fan. She slid the screens across the doors and windows. Chores done she turned and saw Auggie sitting on the edge of the bed in just a pair of boxers he retrieved from his bag.

"Hop in, I'll get the mosquito nets," she said quietly as she reached for the ribbon tying back the gauzy nets.

She hung the damp towel in the bathroom and then slid in next to Auggie, securing the nets on her side as well. Auggie turned towards her and his hands found warm soft naked Annie.

"Mmmmm," was all he got out, his lips finding her shoulder.

"Eating wasn't the only thing I got used to doing alone," she laughed lightly.

"Do you need some space?" he retreated to the other side of the bed.

"No," she turned and found his face in the diminishing light, "no."

She reached for him and brought his lips to hers, kissed him deeply, slid her hands around to his back. She pulled back from the kiss, keeping her forehead against his, their breath shared in the space between them.

"Sleep, Annie," he smiled and closed his eyes.

***555***

Annie woke to a bright room, unsure of how long they had slept. She could feel Auggie's strong body spooned behind her, his breath against her ear indicated he was awake.

"Morning," she said with a scratchy throat.

"Morning, you sleep well?" he asked.

"I did," she nodded and turned in his arms.

"Good. I would have gotten up to call for some breakfast, but I honestly need your eyes on the nets," he cringed.

Annie smiled and sat up realizing she was naked.

"Not too bad, nothing bigger than a quarter," she reported and kicked at the nets sending the insects fluttering or scurrying off.

"Thanks," he said grimly.

"Auggie, don't thank me for things like that," she squeezed his arm.

"I'm still surprised by the things that flummox me, even after all these years," he shook his head.

"Do you know how amazing you are? You navigated Hong Kong by yourself, I got turned around more than once, how did you do it?" she kissed his cheek.

"My phone and some friendly locals," he shrugged.

"Well, don't hesitate to ask when my eyes are helpful, and I'll try not to hesitate when I need you to reposition a satellite for me," she laughed and opened the mosquito nets.

Annie dressed quickly while Auggie pulled out some surveillance equipment he had assembled on the plane ride the day before.

"This is as small as I could get it with what I had on hand," he handed her a listening device the size of a book of matches.

"What's the range?" she asked as she poured some coffee from the cart that arrived while she was dressing.

"About 500 feet, the hut is pretty small, if you can get it near a window we should be good."

"OK," she took the device, hit the button on the back and walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Test 1,2, 3" she whispered.

"Loud and clear," he said from beyond the door.

She slid the device in her pocket and shook out her boots making sure nothing had crawled in overnight.

"How far is the site?"

"About 6 kilometers, the hotel is letting us use one of their jeeps and here, take this," he handed her a camera.

"You need more photos?" she said confused.

"Can't hurt and you can use it as a cover, take a few shots of the bridge. And last but not least," he produced a tracker.

"You were busy on your flight," she put the camera, tracker and her phone in her satchel and took a bottle of water from the room service tray.

"Stay put near the location after you place the bug, I'll signal you if there is anything immediately actionable," Auggie instructed.

"Sounds good, I'll try to take a look at the bridge, see if there is any indication of where they might be planning to stage the explosives," she suggested.

"Good idea, just try to keep a low profile, if word has gotten to the cell about Henry your photo might be out here as well. Keep in touch," he cocked his head to the side.

"I am getting used to working as a team again, I won't leave you in the dark. So to speak," she teased and kissed him softly and then she was gone.

TBC…


	3. Mtwara P3

Globe Trotting: Mtwara Part 3

Annie parked the jeep about half a mile from the bridge, looked over the file one last time, stashed it under the seat and put her comm in her ear. Bluetooth would be way too obvious in Tanzania, so Annie was back to the old earpiece; it brought back memories of her early days with Auggie.

"I am close," she reported in.

"Keep a low profile, beautiful women traveling alone in this area are pretty noticeable," Auggie advised.

"I'd say flattery will get you everywhere, but you already got me naked last night," Annie teased.

"Is it flattery when it's true?"

"I can see the bridge from here," Annie mentioned as she crested a hill.

"OK, the hut is down a dirt road that runs along the west side of the river. Reports indicate it is the 5th dwelling from the start of the bridge, since we have no street address you may want to do a little recon before placing the bug though."

"So I shouldn't bug some random Tanzanian residents?" Annie smirked.

"Exactly."

"Got it. Talk to you soon," Annie ended the conversation as she approached the target.

The hut looked pretty basic, but like most structures in the region it was equipped with shutters to control the climate. Annie knew her best bet was to get the listening device behind one of those shutters. Annie counted out the houses from the start of the bridge and as she approached the 5th she ducked behind a tree and took out a tiny set of binoculars.

Once she was certain the hut was the right one she approached with caution, securing the device to the back of a shudder with some gum. She pressed the button to activate it and tapped a message to Auggie that it was in place. She could see the back of the head of one man in a chair and another who appeared to be asleep on the couch, it did not look like a hotbed of terrorist activity yet.

Annie got clear of the building and well outside earshot before speaking to Auggie.

"Heading for a walk down by the river, let me know if the object of our surveillance has anything interesting to say."

"Will do, watch out for leeches," Auggie replied.

"Is that code?"

"No, the river probably has leeches."

"I'm ready for vacation now," Annie sighed and froze when she heard Auggie's laughter in her ear.

"I like the sound of that," she said.

"Vacation?" he asked.

"Your laugh, I've missed it."

"I've missed it myself," he agreed.

Annie took out the camera and made her way down to the banks of the Rufiji River. Everything looked normal at first, dirt and brush, but as she got closer she saw something that seemed odd. Finally she came upon a row of sandbags, they blended into the terrain nicely and sandbags at a river's edge are not that out-of-the-ordinary, but it was drought season and the river was barely at bank level let alone flood level.

Using the camera and binoculars to scan the area, Annie was convinced she was not being observed, using a pocket knife from her pants she cut into one of the sand bags.

"Auggie?"

"Yep," he replied immediately.

"I found the explosives. C4 and lots of it."

"Any trigger?"

"Not that I can see, but there are probably 30 bags of it here at the beginning of the bridge, it would be a safe bet that the other end of the bridge has a similar cache."

"OK, still no movement from the guys at the hut," Auggie reported.

"I'm going to head to the pipeline see what's going down there."

"Be careful."

"I will," she said with a swallow.

Annie almost said 'always' but it was a little late for a lie like that. Truly she hadn't been careful for a while now, but with Henry out of the way she needed to assess her psyche a little more clearly and decide how she was going to move forward with this job. And how she was going to move forward with Auggie. It wasn't a matter of if any more, she knew she wanted Auggie, they just need to figure out how to find that balance that had shifted so drastically the past few months.

***555***

A few hours later Annie returned to the hotel room to find Auggie typing away.

"Anything on the bug?"

"Not much, luckily this seems to be multi-national group and their common language is English so I have been keeping up, but they have mostly been talking about soccer," Auggie slipped his head phones off and offered her a smile.

"I brought food," she rustled the bag which made his smile even broader.

"Thanks."

"Least I can do while you are chained to surveillance," she squeezed his shoulder as she unpacked some fruit and nuts.

"I have some feelers out for help," Auggie mentioned as he selected a plum.

"Calder said our resources were tight here."

"They are, but I have non-CIA friends," Auggie insinuated.

"Ah, America's finest?"

"Trying. I have a lot of faith in you Annie, but there are 8 of them and one of you and at least 2 bomb sites. We could use some back up," he was afraid she might be mad.

"Thanks Auggie, help would be great."

Auggie was trying not to get his hopes up too much, but Annie seemed more like herself. He wasn't naïve enough to think she had put everything behind her with one bullet to Henry Wilcox's thorax, but she seemed open to him in a way he had missed so desperately.

***555***

A few hours later Annie and Auggie heard a new voice join the men at the hut. Both Operatives perked up, hoping this was the leader, Lars, that they were waiting for.

"All the C4 in place?" the voice asked.

"Yes, Sir," one of the known voices replied.

"I'll set the chargers just before dawn, don't want to risk anything going wrong. I want four of you in the jeep over by the pipeline, we need to watch both sites," Lars ordered.

There was some debate over who should go and who should stay. In the end Lars stayed with three others at the hut and 4 of them left. Annie was out the door, if she could get the jump on Lars and his team the other 4 would go easily. She had to get them before the bombs were triggered.

"Be careful, even without a trigger that C4 is incredibly volatile, fire fight could set it off," Auggie reached and squeezed her hand as she passed by.

"I'll be fine, we've come too far to have it get shot to hell now Auggie," she kissed his cheek and was gone.

Fifteen minutes later he heard a knock at a door via the listening device.

"Hello," Lars answered.

"Oh thank God, I thought I heard English," Annie's voice came through loud and clear.

"Can I help you?" Lars said not too helpfully.

"My jeep got a flat and I wound up stuck on the river bank. I can change the tire, but I could really use some help pushing it back up to the road, it's getting dark," Annie used her best damsel in distress voice and Auggie was certain she was batting her eyelashes just a little.

"Of course," Lars said with resigned agreement.

"Thank you so much, it won't take long with help."

Some of the other guys were interested in helping the pretty lady, but Lars ordered them to stay put, which was fine with Annie one on one was easier.

"Which way?" Lars asked.

"Right down here," Annie pointed towards the river bank where the jeep was visible above the brush.

Lars took a couple steps ahead and Annie hung back, just as he approached the edge of the bank Annie pulled her gun and struck him across the back of the head in just the right spot. His unconscious body dropped to the ground and Annie kicked him over the edge, the roll down the bank roughing him up a bit and getting him out of the direct sight line of his crew.

Annie knew she had to work fast or the others would get curious. She only had one piece of rope, but it was long enough to cut in two, she bound his hands behind his back and dragged him to lean against the back of the jeep before she bound his feet. Once she was certain he would stay put she grabbed the handheld semi-automatic Auggie had procured somewhere and trotted back up to the hut.

Auggie listened in on his end to the sound of a door being kicked in and a very different sounding Annie telling everyone to get down on the ground. She got their weapons and moved them to a corner of the hut, keeping the weapon trained on them the whole time.

"Location secure," she reported in.

"Nice work Miss Walker," Auggie smiled.

"You know what I could really use right now?" she said sweetly.

"A jeep full of Army Rangers?"

"I was going to say some zip ties, but Army Rangers would be nice," she smiled.

TBC


	4. Mtwara P4

Mtwara Part 4

Annie was able to keep the three members of Lars' crew subdued while she waited for Auggie's friends to arrive. They were pretty docile without their leader. Sure enough a jeep with 6 Army Rangers arrived as Auggie promised, the guys happy to help out.

"Ma'am, we understand there is a secondary site?" one of the young guys addressed Annie.

"Yes, near the pipeline. We can take my Jeep," she took 3 of the guys with her as the other three rounded up Lars and the others.

"Auggie, you sure know how to make a girl feel special," Annie spoke into the comm.

"They owed me one," Auggie brushed it off.

"You literally called in the cavalry for me."

"They were nearby for a training exercise and luckily they have a plane with them that will get our band of merry men back to DC post haste. Get the last of them and have Gavin drop you at the hotel, he'll make sure the Jeep gets back here when they're done with it. I'll have dinner waiting."

"Can we start our vacation tonight?" Annie asked quietly as the 3 soldiers piled in the Jeep.

"We have to debrief with the DCI, but then yes, I think we can start our vacation."

***555***

It was an hour later when Annie arrived at the room. Auggie's Army buddies had all the members of the cell in custody and onboard a cargo plane destined for Paris before heading back to DC. Auggie was stretched out on the bed, his legs crossed at the ankle and his hands behind his head.

"That was shockingly easy," Annie announced as she dropped her bag on the desk.

"Good intel, Oliver clearly spilled everything," Auggie agreed.

"When's the debrief?"

"Two hours, thought we could eat," Auggie went to swing his legs off the bed, but Annie held them in place and crawled in next to him.

"That's 6:00 am in DC, the DCI is getting up for a 6:00 am debrief?" Annie said with shock as she placed her head on his chest.

"You, Miss Walker, are a pretty big deal right now. I'm surprised the DCI isn't flying here to debrief in person," Auggie raked his fingers through her hair.

"Hmmm," she said non-committally.

"You want dinner?" Auggie asked.

"No."

"A shower?"

"No."

"What would you like to do for the next 2 hours?" he asked, no innuendo in his voice.

"I'm doing it," she said and snuggled closer to his side.

"Can we just stay here, like this?" her voice was quiet.

"Of course, I'll hold you as long as you want Annie," his hands slid down from her hair to her shoulders and settled around her waist.

"Thank you. I need to think about my conversation with the DCI. I have no idea what he is going to say and I really have no idea how I am going to respond."

***555***

Auggie wasn't sure if Annie glanced at his watch or if there was a clock in the room, though he hadn't heard one, but at 9:45 she got up wordlessly, went to the bathroom and washed her face. She sat at the desk and powered on the laptop.

"I'm ready," she said.

"OK," he moved to her side and logged them into the secure satellite uplink.

Silence returned as they waited for the DCI.

"Auggie," her voice sounded harsh after the silence, "whatever comes of this, whatever we decide about work I hope we can decide it together. I hope, I mean, I want us…"

A loud beep interrupted her thoughts and signaled the arrival of the DCI on the other end of the connection.

"Operative Walker, Operative Anderson," he began.

"Hello Sir," Annie and Auggie said in unison.

"I just saw the report on your mission in Tanzania, amazing work on such short notice, we are very grateful. I am also through with my debrief with Calder Michaels on your role in exposing and neutralizing Henry Wilcox, you both did some exemplary work."

"Operative Walker gets the credit on that one Sir, Calder and I just provided support on the back end," Auggie spoke up and Annie squeezed his arm in thanks.

"I am aware of the degree of sacrifice and effort Annie went to, the reality of the situation is really just settling in here. I imagine it will take some time before all the threads are pulled tight," the man sounded tired, even more tired than the 6:00 am call warranted.

"Calder made it sound as if there would be a place for me at Langley, despite my actions," Annie wanted to get to the point, she knew what had happened, she had to know what was going to come next.

"There is certainly a place for both of you at the CIA, your work is exceptional, but I want to propose something different. I imagine desk work would be a harsh reality, for both of you really and there is plenty of field work for a team of your caliber. We'd like you both to consider staying away from Langley for a while. Honestly, this place is toxic and until we get our ducks in a row you are frankly better off."

"You want me to stay dark?" Annie's voice choked.

"Not dark per se, you can return to the land of the living Miss Walker and you will be operating with CIA resources and Operative Anderson if you both agree to that arrangement, you will just be operating outside of the building."

"Where exactly?" Auggie questioned.

"Wherever we need you. Just like this mission, you will selected for missions based on your skills and location at the time," the DCI explained.

"And Auggie stays with me?"

"Your handler on site with the support of his team back at Langley when needed. Annie, I understand you have been through a lot and this is all very sudden. I don't expect you to agree today, although I do hope you will agree eventually."

"Calder mentioned some time off," she squeaked.

"Of course, as much as you both want. I would also like to have you speak with someone from the support staff," the DCI spoke frankly.

"A shrink?" Annie questioned.

"It is protocol in cases like yours."

"There are other cases like mine?" Annie laughed.

"Can we agree to speak again in 2 weeks and that you will use some of that time to consider my offer?"

"Yes Sir," Annie replied.

"A company jet will pick you up at 1100 tomorrow and take you anywhere you want to go. In the midst of all of this, don't lose sight of the work you did on your own and with each other, I haven't. Good-bye," and he was gone.

Annie stood and walked away from the computer. Auggie could hear her closing the screens and preparing the room for the night.

"At least we have some time," Auggie said unsure of her mood.

"I'm glad he didn't expect an answer today," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"I'm going to take a shower," he indicated the direction he hoped was the bathroom.

Now that there was no mission to focus on they couldn't divert their focus from the emotion between them.

"Auggie, wait," Annie stopped him.

"Yeah," he turned back.

"I love you."

Annie wished she had a camera to capture the look on Auggie's face, to preserve the joy that washed over him.

"I love you too," he said, his voice suspiciously watery.

The End ….of Mtwara

NOTES: This is the end of our first destination, Mtwara, Tanzania. I will not be updating again until after the US Thanksgiving holidays, but look forward to Annie and Auggie's R&R in whatever location my random location generator picks. Happy Thanksgiving!


	5. Barbados P1

Globe Trotting – Barbados Part 1

Note: Hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving had a lovely holiday weekend. I intended this part of the fic to be Annie and Auggie's vacation and when I threw my virtual dart at the online map I landed on Barbados (lucky them!)!

***555***

"Auggie, we need to get up," Annie roused him at 9:30.

"Hmmmm," he murmured and buried his face further in the pillow, apparently already on vacation.

"The company jet arrives in 90 minutes," she reminded him they weren't actually there yet.

"You can sleep more on the plane," she promised and smiled when his arm reached out and pulled her closer,

"You're dressed," he pouted when his hands found denim on her hips instead of the soft cotton of a tee shirt, or better yet, nothing.

"Yes, and you need to be too," she said although she was looking forward to a couple weeks of barely clothed with Auggie as she examined his shoulders with her fingers.

"Keep doing that and I'll be happy to spend vacation right here," he smiled.

"There will be plenty of time for this in Barbados," she teased and slipped out of the bed.

"Will there?" Auggie asked honestly.

Although the 2 had been sharing a bed in Tanzania and sleeping in limited clothing, nothing had happened in that bed but sleeping during the mission.

"If you don't get dressed you will never find out," Annie shrugged and went to pack the few items they had with them.

***555***

The flight to Barbados was long, as long as the flight from Hong Kong had been and both Annie and Auggie slept a lot. The reality of the end of the Henry Wilcox saga seemed to drain the last of their adrenaline and left them exhausted.

Annie found 2 suitcases on board that Calder had requested full of new clothes, both of them down to the clothes on their backs and a few random items in their bags. With a couple hours until they arrived, Annie and Auggie freshened up and changed into shorts, shirts and sandals.

"Now we look like we are on vacation," Annie announced.

"Who are we?" Auggie asked as he finished buttoning his short sleeve cotton shirt.

"Grace and Matthew Kendall," Annie tapped his passport against his hand.

"Calder married us?" Auggie snorted.

"Maybe he supports our relationship more than he lets on," Annie sighed and slipped the wedding rings out of the go pack.

"Are you OK with being married?" Auggie said as he slid the ring onto his finger without batting an eye.

"Auggie, whatever we are going through, I meant what I said last night: I love you. The rings and the name are all part of a cover, but really what marriage isn't a cover for something. We have been partners for 4 years, this is not strange for me, it feels kind of right," she said as she slipped her own ring on.

"I do hate the idea of you calling me Grace, I had just gotten used to hearing you call me Annie again," she squeezed his elbow and moved to put some make up on.

***555***

A car met them at the airport and drove them to Settlers Beach in St. James Parrish on the West side of the island, it was a clear warm day and Annie was already in love with the small island destination she picked for vacation.

The driver gave their names to a bellman when they arrived at the main building of a villa resort.

"Mr. & Mrs. Kendall, welcome to Settlers Beach," the man said with a beautiful accent.

"We're happy to be here," Auggie smiled.

The man made quick work of shuttling their bags from the car to a golf cart.

"You are pre-checked in, so we can go right down to your villa," he explained as Annie helped Auggie navigate the golf cart and settled herself on the back.

Calder had said everything would be taken care of for them and if the hotel found it odd they did not let on in any way. Looking around at the lush grounds and the private villas this place seemed to cater to a clientele that valued its privacy. All Annie had done was give Calder the destination, the rest of it was all him and she would certainly have to send a fruit basket to say thanks.

The golf cart pulled up to the back door of a decent sized dwelling, another golf cart was parked by the walk.

"You are free to use the cart if you wish to navigate the property, if you would prefer for us to drive that is no problem, just call up to the main building," he noted as Annie hopped off the back of their ride and gave Auggie her arm.

"Your villa is fully air conditioned, has data access, wi-fi and cable. There are 6 rooms plus two full baths and a terrace, lawn and private beach access," he rattled off as Annie looked around in awe.

"It is beautiful," she replied with a smile.

"We think so," the man smiled back.

"There is a map of the grounds and information on dining there on the desk. You are welcome to eat in any of the restaurants, have room service delivered here to the villa or go into town and stock your kitchen. No one goes hungry here," he winked.

He stashed the bags and left Annie and Auggie in the living room of their luxurious accommodations.

"So, we're on vacation," Annie said unnecessarily.

"Yep," Auggie agreed.

"No mission, no bad guys, no distractions," she pointed out.

"Mmhm," Auggie agreed again.

"Why do I feel nervous about this?" she choked out a short laugh.

"There is nothing to hide behind anymore. We know we work well together, work has hardly ever been an obstacle for us, but without work to hold us together, are we strong enough? Just us, on our own," he slid his hand from the hold at her elbow to her small hand and laced their fingers together.

"We haven't spent much non-work time together really," she sighed.

"Our work is pretty all consuming, the fact that we work so well together is a good sign for us as a couple, the rest should come easily," he tried to reassure her.

"I feel like I lost some of myself these past few months," Annie admitted.

"Luckily, I have been there and I know a little of what you are going through Annie," he leaned close and kissed her cheek before walking cautiously towards the breeze.

"Where do we go from here?" she asked staying behind.

"I think a good first step is a walk on the beach."

TBC…


	6. Barbados P2

Globe Trotting – Barbados P2

Annie led Auggie to the pristine stretch of private beach at the end of their villa's yard. She could see other people but everyone appeared to keep to their little patch of sand.

"The water is beautiful," she said as she toed off her sandals.

Auggie followed suit and noticed the change in sand as they went from hot and dry to cool and wet. He could hear gentle surf, but was surprised when the water actually reached his toes.

"Nice," he laughed as he wiggled his toes deeper into the wet sand.

"It is. The beach always puts things in perspective for me, makes me feel small and insignificant in a completely awesome way."

"You enjoy feeling small and insignificant?" Auggie asked curiously.

"Sure, sometimes. For as long as I can remember I tried to fix things, to fix people, to make everything perfect. I wanted my dad to be a better dad, I wanted the world to be a safer place, I wanted Ben to be the perfect boyfriend…"

"I would really like to know more about your dad and let's just both agree that Ben Mercer is not good enough to carry your shoes for you. Let's also agree that you have made the world a safer place," he said quietly.

"Thanks," she whispered.

She slipped her hand in his. She loved how big Auggie's hands were, how strong and elegant at the same time. When she could get away with staring at him she would watch his hands as they moved over a keyboard or fiddled with something on his desk.

"If I promise not to walk you off a cliff or into a rock could we walk like this?" she asked as she threaded their fingers together.

"Sure," he agreed and she set off at a very casual pace along the shore.

Annie was quiet on their walk, but her hand was warm in his, her breath normal. Auggie had every intention of giving her as much time and space as she needed to contemplate the future of her job and their future as a couple, but something was bugging him.

"You know, about a year ago I asked you out on a date and we never actually went on it," he said with a grin.

"And whose fault was that?" she poked him in the side.

"I take full responsibility for seducing you instead," he placed his free hand over his heart.

"And I take full responsibility for ruining our morning after with talk of Henry," she stopped walking and turned to face him.

"I had wanted you for so long Auggie, I can't believe I led us down such a dark path from there," she reached up and cupped the side of his face with her hand, encouraged his lips to hers and kissed him.

"You wanted to protect me, and Joan," he said when they broke apart.

"Henry threatened you, knowing I would jump through hoops for him if it meant helping you, he played me. You pointed it out all along, you were right, he used you to get to me and I hate that. It makes me so nervous, maybe Helen was right, maybe we can't have real relationships, it is too dangerous."

"This life is dangerous Annie, but it is not a good enough reason to not try. We have always made emotional decisions about one another at work, from the beginning. Our relationship isn't going to put us in any more danger than we normally face," Auggie retaliated.

"So you seduced me instead of talking and I talked about Henry instead of our feelings. Clearly we both have our own special kind of avoidance," Annie laughed.

"For the record, mine is more fun," Auggie pointed out.

"It really is," Annie agreed.

"But we probably should do some real talking?" Auggie asked hesitantly.

"Probably," Annie hung her head and walked them to a shady spot under a palm tree.

"Where do we start?" Auggie asked as he settled back against the tree and coaxed Annie into his arms.

"When did you first realize you cared about me, more than normal?" Annie asked.

"When you were quarantined during the Shen Yu thing. I showed up at the hospital and they wouldn't let me see you, I went a little nuts," Auggie admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"You were with Dr. Scott and trying to read in Danielle, you didn't need your best friend confessing inappropriate thoughts on top of all that."

"Those seem like excuses, not reasons," Annie said calmly.

"I didn't think you felt the same way."

She barked out a laugh at that.

"When?" he asked her the same question.

"There were little things right from the beginning, but the truly defining moment was the night at Allen's that you told me…"

"Told you what?" Auggie prompted and he felt her turn in his arms and kneel in front of him.

"When you told me about this," she ran a hand along is temple and kissed him right next to his eye.

Auggie closed his eyes and savored the tenderness of her touch before whispering in her ear.

"You should have said something."

"I was with Dr. Scott and I was worried about Danielle," she laughed.

"Excuses."

"I was so touched that you told me, I know how hard that was for you and I didn't want you to think for a second that my affection was the result of pity or sorrow. I am so sorry for everything you have been through, but I love you for all that you are, good and bad."

"So what was Simon?" Auggie asked with a tilt of his head.

"Rebound, really ill-advised rebound," Annie frowned.

"At least you didn't propose to him," Auggie sighed.

"Simon, Parker and Helen, the fall out, physical and emotional of those relationships is a lot to deal with, but I'd like to think we weren't trying to hurt one another, not intentionally."

"I never want to hurt you Annie, it is the last thing I want," he brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her gently.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice shaky.

He didn't answer, simply smiled and kissed her again. She gave herself over to the kiss for a little while until the high keening call of a sea bird roused her. She took in Auggie's face, his lips wet and swollen and his eyes glazed and hooded, and kissed him one more time.

"Let's go," she didn't recognize the raw quality of her own voice as she tapped is arm and he took her hand as she pulled him to his feet.

***555***

The villa was cool and bright, the light scent of lilies filtered into every room. Annie walked wordlessly towards one of the bedrooms, a sleek white room with a view of the ocean, pillows the same color as the sea cluttered the bed, but Annie didn't take the time to deal with them, she just pulled Auggie down on top of her.

"I'm starting to like vacation," she smiled as she wrapped her arms and legs around Auggie holding him as close as she could.

Auggie just grinned and rolled them so she was on top, her long hair flopping into his face. She flipped it back before sitting up on her knees and stripping her shirt off.

"You sure?" he asked as his hands moved along her legs and up to her bare sides.

"So sure," she said sincerely as she covered his hands with her own and directed them up to her breasts.

She leaned into his touch and gasped at how quickly her body remembered his. He took his time, tracing lines over every inch of her back and shoulders as she whimpered and squirmed. She could tell he wanted her too, so the slow torture was even worse.

"Auggie, we have 2 weeks to go slow, right now please just, uhhh…." Her head tipped back as he arched against her, "please."

TBC…


	7. Barbados P3

Globe Trotting – Barbados P3

Auggie slipped out of the bed while Annie slept, consulting his watch he saw it was near 5:00 pm and they hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. He tried to remember the layout of the villa and eventually found a phone, dialing 0 got him an operator to help him order some room service. He used the bathroom, and was heading back to retrieve his clothes when he heard her moving.

Annie was too well trained to cry out, but he could tell she was thrashing around on the bed. He didn't want to startle her, but he hated the thought of her suffering.

"Annie," he said softly but firmly from the doorway.

"Annie," he repeated.

On the third pronouncement of her name he heard her still.

"Oh god," she moaned and ran across the room.

He then heard her getting sick in what he hoped was another bathroom.

"Annie?" his voice shifted to concerned as he tried to make it across the room.

"I'm OK," she said weakly.

"You don't sound OK," he reached the door and leaned down and found her head.

He maneuvered around her and grabbed a facecloth, he ran it under cold water and she took it gratefully, wiping her face and neck before she stood and rinsed her mouth.

"A lesser man would be concerned that our first sex in months led you to nightmares so bad you were physically sick, but I am going to hope the two are mutually exclusive," he grinned as he leaned back against the cool tile still naked.

She snorted derisively and rinsed her mouth one more time.

"You OK?"

"Yeah," she said with more confidence than she felt.

He opened his arms and was pleased when she slipped into them easily.

"Good, cause I ordered food," he said against the crown of her head.

He felt her wrinkle her nose against his chest.

"Maybe not that OK," she sighed.

"You should eat, it will make you feel better, I promise."

She just nodded and made no move to leave his arms or the bathroom.

***555***

Auggie was right and the food did help settle Annie's stomach and her nerves, the wine didn't hurt either. They ate in the Villa's dining room clad in the fluffy robes they found in a closet.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Auggie asked between bites of chocolate mousse.

"The dream?" Annie knew what he was asking.

"Yeah."

"When I was in Zurich I had one of Henry's men in custody. I was interrogating him and things went bad. I shot him. It was him or me, he had me pinned down, the gun between us, it was terrifying," she stuttered over certain words and sipped her wine to buy her time.

"I was covered in his blood, his weight on top of me," she shuddered and he reached out to find her hand.

"Henry told me, on more than one occasion, that I was just like him. I guess I have to figure out if he was right," she shrugged and swiped at a tear that escaped.

"You are not like Henry, Annie, you are the opposite of Henry."

"I killed him Auggie when I had a choice. He could be in custody right now, being grilled for information. We could have gained valuable intel from him and I made the decision to end his life in an alley in Hong Kong. I played God with another human being, not to save myself or anyone else, but because I wanted him dead," she was crying now outright, Auggie could hear the tears in her voice.

"Henry Wilcox killed countless nameless people and would have kept right on killing. Do you think Federal Prison was going to hold him? It didn't the last time. You did what you had to do to make the world a better place Annie, not out of vengeance."

"How can you be sure of that? I'm not," she sniffled.

"Because I know you Annie, I can step back and assess this from outside of the trauma. These months were hard for me, sure, but not like they were for you. You can't be objective about your actions, you are too focused on the end result and that is natural. You need to grieve and to heal," he ran his thumb over her hand as she finished her wine.

"You'll help?' she asked timidly.

"Of course I will."

She stood and moved to his chair, took his hand in hers and sat on his lap, kissing him gently.

"From the very beginning I have needed you Auggie, I feel like I need you way more than you need me sometimes," she leaned back to watch his face.

"I asked Joan why she paired us up," he began.

"When?"

"In the middle of all of this, when Helen came back and Teo died and we started questioning the idea of a relationship. She told me that it was ultimately a coincidence, but that my job was to ground you and yours was to push me out of my comfort zone. You may feel like you need me more than I need you, but I feel the same way. I am constantly amazed that you stick with me when I slow you down, literally slow you down, but we work together Annie in the office, in the field and at home, we work together," tears added a brightness to his eyes.

"Yes, we do," she agreed.

"How are you feeling right now?" he asked as one of his hands slipped under the flap of her robe and found her thigh.

"Good," it was less of a word and more of a sigh.

"Yeah?" his fingers trailed along the inside of her knee.

"Yeah," her legs shifted to give him better access.

"You ready for slow this time?" he whispered in her ear.

"Oh god," she tipped her head back as his fingers teased her further.

"Let's use one of the really big beds in this place, shall we?"

Annie could see his logic but really didn't want him to stop touching her. Finally he removed his hand from her body and she pouted.

"Bed," he repeated, "I need a lot of room to thoroughly ravage you."

"You were doing a pretty good job in this chair," she pointed out.

"Then imagine what I can do when we get to stretch out," he stood and she had to also.

***555***

"Where you going?" Auggie said groggily as Annie slipped out of bed later that evening.

"To get the rest of the wine," she assured him and padded back to the dining room.

Auggie heard a cork pop as she returned.

"New bottle?"

"It's vacation," she shrugged and poured a glass.

"What time is it?" Auggie asked as he sat up, the sheet pooling at his waist.

"Does it matter, we're on vacation?"

"Let me rephrase the question, how long was I asleep?" he took the glass she offered and sipped the rich red wine.

"Not very long."

"Did you sleep?"

"No."

"Why?" he asked worried she was afraid of a repeat nightmare.

"I was watching you," she admitted.

"That is either really sexy or really creepy," Auggie smiled and handed her back the wine.

"I missed you," she said shyly.

TBC…


	8. Barbados P4

Globe Trotting – Barbados P4

Annie and Auggie spent the first 5 days of vacation keeping to themselves, enjoying their private beach and the beautiful villa. Days and nights rolled together with no discernible marking of time other than when they slept, which wasn't always at night.

Auggie continued to coax Annie into telling him bits and pieces of her time alone, the things she did, the fears she still had. Annie got Auggie to talk about his relationships, especially since he lost his sight.

With nothing to distract them they actually talked about their early lives, their parents and the many ways both feel they have disappointed their loved ones. Annie changed the subject any time Auggie brought up Danielle and that troubled him, but he let it go for the time being.

Early on Day 6 of vacation Annie was dressed as Auggie slept soundly, his bare back tanned and strong was incredibly tempting, but she forced herself to leave the room. She took the little golf cart up to the main building and strolled to the front desk.

"Good Morning Mrs. Kendall," a woman Annie had never seen before greeted her.

Annie wondered if there was a lineup of photos in the back so everyone got such a personal greeting, although the spy in her was always paranoid when someone knew more about her than she about them.

"Good morning," she smiled back, "I was wondering if you had any information on activities. My husband and I have really loved our quiet time, but I am itching to do something a little more exciting."

"Of course, come with me I will show you some options," the woman waved Annie over to a small library off the main lobby, there were binders and brochures all over the place.

Annie took the seat the woman offered and opened the first binder she was handed.

"Barbados has many wonderful options for half day and day long excursions, by land or by sea," she smiled warmly.

"I am definitely thinking water. I heard you can swim with sea turtles, is that true?" Annie asked as she flipped through the glossy photos.

"Yes, there are several options for seeing and experiencing the turtles," the woman found a flyer.

Annie appreciated that she said seeing and experiencing, did she know Auggie was blind? Annie was hoping to pick a few things they could do together that would be as fun for him as it was for her. She made a few phone calls and explained their situation and was pleased to set up a full day for them. She arranged transport to the locations with the hotel and grabbed coffee and pastry at the lobby café before heading back to wake Auggie.

***555***

"Time to wake up," she sing songed as she ran the cup of coffee under his nose like smelling salts.

"Mmmmm, coffee," he murmured sounding frighteningly like Homer Simpson.

"We have places to be Anderson, get up," she put the coffee on the nightstand and poked him in the side.

"Owwww, mean," he pouted and burrowed further in the pillows.

"I am not mean, I just spent my morning planning a fun and exciting day for us," she stood and put her hands on her hips.

For a second she thought Auggie had fallen back to sleep, but then she saw his head turn in her direction.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, now I can't believe I am going to say this, but you need to put on some clothes," she admired him thoroughly as he lifted his legs from the bed and sat on the edge reaching for the coffee.

"How exciting can the day be if it involves clothes?" he smirked.

She was already gathering the clothes as he spoke.

"Bathing suit, shirt, shoes," the last item thunked at his feet.

He took the clothes and his coffee with a fake scowl and retreated to the bathroom. He emerged, dressed and shaved 10 minutes later.

"Is my shirt on right? There were no tags," he quirked an eyebrow, "it feels right."

"It's right," she assured him as she stepped close, drawn to his clean-shaven cheek where she planted a kiss.

Auggie held the back of her head as he kissed her, intrigued by the formation of her hair, tracing the part on the back of her skull and trailing his hands down the 2 long braids that framed her face.

"So, where are we off to Heidi? Heading to the mountaintop to help Grandpa with the goats?" he laughed.

"Har har," she turned but he still had hold of her braids and he pulled her back and kissed her soundly.

"These might come in handy," he mentioned as he kissed her again.

Just then the doorbell of the villa rang and Annie grabbed her bag and Auggie's cane and led him to the waiting van.

***555***

"Paragliding?" Auggie said with a mix of excitement and confusion as Annie led him over the rugged terrain of the hill.

"Yep," Annie confirmed.

"Cool."

"Apparently Grace Kendall has some of my old licenses, I can take us up tandem," she whispered as they approached a burly fellow with a Dallas Cowboys hat on.

"You must be the Kendalls," he said with a distinct drawl.

"I'm Grace, this is Matt," Annie smiled.

"I'm Chuck, nice to meet ya," he tipped his cap.

"You too, seems you are not from around here," Annie grinned.

"Born and raised in Texas Ma'am, but found my paradise, I'm a lucky guy," he looked out over the gorgeous vista.

Chuck got them harnessed up, Annie taking the back spot so she could pilot.

"Are you going to be able to see anything but my giant head?" Auggie asked concerned.

"I'm fine, just enjoy the breeze and the flying, ready?" Annie counted them down and they ran in tandem before launching off the end of the earth.

The harness jolted as the sail adjusted to their combined weight and then they floated smoothly over the lush landscape. Auggie tilted his head back against Annie's chest and the smile on his face was the perfect healing balm for her soul, this was where she wanted to be, strapped to this guy and taking chances. She wasn't ready to accept the DCI's offer just yet, but this moment hovering in the air with Auggie beside her was helping her decide.

After 20 minutes a buzzer sounded for Annie to steer them back to land, she timed and maneuvered them perfectly making a soft landing and warning Auggie before his longer legs touched down.

"Nice flyin' there Mrs. Kendall, you're a natural, you looking for a job?" Chuck said as he wrapped the sail.

"Not at the moment Chuck, but nice to know there are options," Annie smiled.

TBC…


	9. Barbados P5

Globe Trotting – Barbados P5

Annie and Auggie's 2nd stop for the day was a marina not far from Settlers' Beach. A small catamaran was docked and a couple of crew members were loading coolers and gear.

"Hi there," Annie called.

"Well, hello," a young guy in cargo shorts and a faded tee shirt with a sea turtle on it waved back.

"We're Grace and Matt Kendall," Annie introduced.

"Are you ready for a relaxing afternoon at sea?" the young guy asked.

"We certainly are," Annie grinned and helped Auggie on board.

There were 4 other people on board, 2 guys that appeared to be brothers and another couple. Everyone was introduced and Annie tried to ignore the curious looks at the Auggie. They found a couple of seats before Auggie said anything.

"I feel like I am missing something," he whispered against her ear.

"We are on a gorgeous boat, about to sail out to a spot where we can snorkel with sea turtles, then we are going to have a nice lunch on the way back," she said quickly.

"Snorkeling, in the middle of the ocean?" Auggie said with an eyebrow raised.

"Yep," she confirmed.

"Hmmm," he replied.

"You OK with that?" she asked quietly.

"Middle of the ocean was kind of terrifying when I could see what was coming," Auggie confessed.

"I'll be with you the whole time," she rubbed his arm.

"You do realize I won't actually see the turtles," he tried an opening.

"But we can touch them. Trust me on this?" she squeezed his arm.

"OK," he nodded.

The crew went over the agenda, the safety protocol stressing the buddy system that Annie had already reviewed and handed out the gear. When they reached the spot Auggie could feel the boat slow and stop and he sat up a little straighter. Annie took her shirt and shorts off revealing her bathing suit underneath and tugged at Auggie's shirt. They let the other two pairs into the water first and Annie helped Auggie orient himself to the side of the boat and then they both slipped into the water.

"Tread here for a bit, let me just take a quick look around," Annie kissed his cheek and adjusted her mask and snorkel.

She took a quick look under the water and the ocean was clear and aside from a bunch of colorful fish looked wide open. She could see the other four snorkelers aways off and tapped Auggie to follow her. The first turtle she saw startled her at first, but the awe of the beautiful creature in front of her made up for the temporary fright. She popped up and found Auggie.

"OK, show time, trust me, right?" she asked.

"Always," he smiled.

Annie took his hand as they both stretched out in the water, the turtle must have found them interesting because a second one appeared and Annie grinned like a child. She reached for Auggie's arm and felt him tense at her touch, she soothed him until he nodded an acknowledgement that it was her touching him and she guided his hand to the hard smooth shell of one of their admirers.

She watched as he traced the shell as far as he could, judging the size of the turtle. Auggie's face was open and amazed. They played in the water for half an hour, the crew coming by with some sort of leafy green that they could actually feed the turtles. Finally they were encouraged to board the boat for lunch and the return sail.

Annie and Auggie made small talk with the others as they ate and then everyone went off to find a place to relax for the sail back to the dock. Annie stretched out on a padded bench near the back of the boat and laid her head in Auggie's lap, looking up at him.

"Thank you," he said simply and she just nodded.

***555***

Annie stopped short when they entered the villa, there were 2 garment bags hanging in the hallway that were not there before. Her instincts kicking in she froze and put an arm up to protect Auggie.

"What?" he puzzled.

"Someone left something," she said.

"Clothes?"

"Looks like it yes," she said stepping further into the villa.

"I requested those. You aren't the only one who can make plans," he grinned.

"Oh?" she finally let him fully into the villa.

"Yes, I thought we could officially have that date I promised you a year ago," he shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"That sounds wonderful," she said sincerely.

"Be ready by 7:00 and give me the bag with my clothes please," he smiled.

She peaked into the garment bag and assumed the blue dress was not for him and handed him the other one. Annie retreated to one of the large bathrooms in the villa and drew a bath. She had plenty of time to get ready. She took a long bath, spent more time on her hair than she had in the past 6 months combined and slipped the beautiful blue dress on. She found some simple earrings and a pair of strappy shoes before looking for Auggie.

She found him standing in the main room, wearing a pair of grey pants, a crisp white shirt and a tie the same color as her dress.

"Hey," she swallowed when her voice cracked.

"Hey," he smiled.

"It's about 6:45," she informed as she walked across the room.

"We're not going far. Do you like the dress?"

"It's the most beautiful thing I have worn in a long time," she admitted and found his hand, bringing it to her hip so he could see the dress.

Auggie thoroughly examined the dress from the back and the front, his hands sliding all over Annie's body and causing her to tremble.

"We should go before we miss another date," she stuttered a little.

"I would try to counter with a case for staying in, but I am excited about this date Annie and I have a pretty good feeling it will end with me taking this dress off of you, so I can wait a little while," he spoke right into her ear before tilting her chin and kissing her thoroughly.

"Pretty sure of yourself, huh?" she chuckled as she tried to still the butterflies in her stomach.

He just smiled and took her arm.

"Where to?" she asked.

"This way," he pointed at the back door.

"That's the back," she corrected.

"I know," he tugged her that way.

As they stepped out the back door Annie noticed a row of torches and a series of slate stones set to walk them down to the beach.

"Where did this come from?" she asked as she led them along the path.

"Knowing your penchant for shoes I thought we might want something more than sand."

As they crested the hill Annie saw their little stretch of beach set for dinner, more torches creating a warm glow around a beautifully set table set on a square of bamboo floor.

"Oh wow," she breathed.

"Mr. & Mrs. Kendall, good evening," a waiter approached and led them to the table.

For the next two hours the waiter brought course after course of local delicacies and delicious wine pairings that surprised and delighted.

"Would you care for dessert now?" the waiter asked and Annie groaned.

"I think we are going to take a little break before dessert Marcel," Auggie grinned.

"Of course Sir, it is all ready to go, would you like me to come back in a bit to serve it?"

"I think we'll be fine Marcel, thank you so much," Auggie thanked the waiter.

"Enjoy your evening," he disappeared up to the resort.

Annie looked around fully, certain there was no one else within ear shot before speaking.

"Auggie, this is unbelievable," she reached for his hand across the table.

Auggie finished his wine and stood.

"Dance with me?" he asked shyly.

Annie looked confused but stood and allowed him to pull her close.

"There's no music," she pointed out as she followed his lead and swayed gently.

"Maybe not traditional music, but close your eyes Annie, what do you hear?"

"The waves," she began.

"Rhythm," he pointed out.

"Insects," she continued.

"Melody."

"Your heartbeat," she found tears escaping her closed eyes.

"Bass."

"I love you," she said as a sob escaped.

"Hey, don't cry," he stopped the gentle swaying and cupped her cheek.

"These are good tears Auggie."

"Annie, today was incredible."

"You had a good time?" she asked and even though they weren't technically dancing any more she put her head back on his chest.

"It was more than a good time Annie. I don't just jump off cliffs or into the middle of the ocean very much anymore."

"I didn't intend for it to be a big metaphor, but I felt it too. I'm ready to talk to the CIA if you are. I'm ready to take that leap, with you."

"You and me against the world Annie?"

"You and me against the world," she said before she kissed him.

***555***

The next morning Annie woke up naked and alone to the sound of typing. Auggie hadn't touched his computer since they arrived in Barbados so the sound was jarring. She rolled over and saw Auggie's bare back hunched over the key board.

"Morning," she croaked.

"Barely," he turned with a smirk.

"It was nearly dawn when we fell asleep," she defended.

"We're getting a little too good at this vacation thing," he agreed as he made his way back to the bed and slid in scooping her into his arms.

"What were you doing?"

"I set up the sat link and a call with the DCI, might as well get the ball rolling."

"OK, listen Auggie, I do have one request of the CIA…." she explained to him the one thing still bugging her.

Finally they got out of bed and put on some clothes for the call. The computer beeped signaling the call was ready and they sat side by side at the desk waiting for the connection. On the DC end Annie saw the DCI, Calder and Joan.

"Walker, Anderson, good to hear from you," the DCI began.

"Hello Sir, Calder, Joan," Annie went through the names for Auggie's benefit.

"How's vacation?" Calder asked.

"Turns out we're pretty good at unwinding, who knew?" Auggie laughed.

"You look good," Joan commented.

"You too, how's the baby?" Annie asked.

"Great, thanks," Joan smiled.

"Have you reached a decision?" the DCI broke into the small talk.

"We have," Auggie said.

"We are on board, both of us," Annie said, "I just have one more request."

"What is it?" the DCI asked.

"I want to see my sister. I want to read her in. Again," Annie sighed.

"You are not officially dark, so that is fine. Do you want to go to California?" the DCI asked.

"No, I'd like to meet her elsewhere. I am unsure how she is going to react to this and I don't want my nieces around if it goes badly. She may not want me to see the girls at all," she swallowed loudly and Auggie took her hand under the desk.

"OK, work it out with Calder, pick the spot and get her there, that's fine."

The call ended with everyone happy with the decision. Annie turned to Auggie, kissed him softly and pulled him close, hugging him tight.

"We made the right decision, right?"

"About the CIA, only time will tell. About one another, most definitely," he smiled and held her tighter.

The End…of Barbados

Note: Stay tuned to see what random spot will be picked for the Danielle reunion…..


	10. Santos P1

Globe Trotting – Santos, Brazil P1

Note: My dart landed on Santos, Brazil which is a port city 75 km from Sao Paolo.

Annie and Auggie arrived at the safe house in Santos shortly before midnight. It was the closest CIA safe house not in use that could double as the site of a family reunion. It was on the beach and had enough room for everyone. Annie was grateful to the DCI for letting her use it and have a little extra time with her sister before she and Auggie were given their first assignment. Now all they needed was to get Danielle there.

"Hey Danielle, it's Auggie," he started as Annie looked on nervously.

"I'm good, thanks. Listen, I know this is a busy time of year for you with the holidays and all, but I really need to see you. I can't say a lot on the phone, but I really would like to talk to you in person," he tried to intrigue her without being too concerning.

"Actually, I am not in DC at the moment. I've taken a little time off, I'm vacationing in Brazil. I'll take care of all the arrangements, you just need to get the time free. This weekend if possible, there is a flight out of SFO that goes through Houston. A friend of mine can meet you in Houston and help you get down here," Auggie rushed through his rehearsed spiel.

Annie smiled when Auggie laughed.

"Yes Danielle, there is always more to the story, will you come? Wonderful. I will email you the ticket. See you soon," Auggie hung up and closed his eyes.

"Thank you Auggie," Annie dropped her head to her chest.

"At least I didn't technically lie to her this time, just left out a major detail," he opened his eyes and Annie leaned in to kiss him.

***555***

Danielle deplaned in Houston and stopped to get a snack and regroup. Auggie had said a friend of his would find her in Houston, at the gate, and she had to wonder who this friend was. Annie had told her on more than one occasion that Auggie seemed to have friends everywhere, Danielle had experienced his connections first hand when she and Annie ran into trouble in Sweden a few years back.

Annie. It had been 6 months since Auggie told her Annie was dead. As much as Danielle wanted to forget that the CIA ever existed she couldn't say no to Auggie when he asked to see her. Auggie knew Annie better than anyone these past few years, he was Danielle's one hope of really making sense of the loss.

Danielle finished her snack, checked in with Michael and proceeded to the gate.

"Ms. Brooks?" a well-dressed man with a small suitcase approached.

"Yes."

"I'm Calder Michaels, Auggie sent me to meet you and bring you to Brazil. Did you have a nice flight in?" Calder asked as he led Danielle to a seat in the gate area.

"Yes, thank you. Um, how do you know Auggie?" Danielle asked.

"We're friends," Calder evaded.

"Work friends?"

"Yes."

"Did you know my sister?" Danielle asked and Calder was so grateful that the cover story Auggie gave Danielle about Annie's death did not mention him.

"I just recently started working in the DC office," another lie of omission sandwiched in the truth.

"Is Auggie OK?" Danielle said concerned.

"Yes, he is fine."

"Why is he so far from home?" Danielle asked and Calder was beginning to see the family resemblance.

"He's actually been on vacation for a couple weeks, he asked if he could see you before going back to work," Calder explained.

"Oh, that's sweet. I like Auggie," Danielle said wistfully.

"Most people do," Calder agreed and stood as their overnight flight to Sao Paolo began boarding.

***555***

Saturday morning Auggie woke up alone. He went in search of Annie throughout the safe house only to be met with quiet. Finding his phone he checked his voice memos and sure enough she had left him a message.

"Gone shopping for some food, back by 10."

Auggie followed his nose to some coffee and took his cup in his pajama pants out to the terrace and that is where Annie found him.

"Hello handsome," she greeted over a bag brimming with vegetables.

"Good morning," he smiled lazily, "need some help?"

"I'm good, just got a few groceries to have on hand. I figure I'll make a big salad and cut up some fruit and we have chicken we can grill," she was talking fast and a little shakily.

"Annie, calm down," Auggie stood and placed his coffee cup on the table before reaching for her.

He took the bag and put it on the table before pulling her close. He could feel her pulse was a little fast and her breathing a little shallow.

"Danielle is going to be here in a couple hours Auggie, I need to make the bed and put these groceries away…." she started to pull away.

"Stay here for 60 seconds. Close your eyes and breathe deeply Annie, for 60 seconds," he held her head to his warm bare chest and felt her relax in his arms.

After a minute he let her go and she didn't run away, in fact she kissed his chest and his neck and made her way to his lips in a leisurely manner.

"Thanks," she smiled against his lips.

"My job, keeping you calm and focused," he shrugged.

"Well I appreciate it."

"How about you put the groceries away, I will make the bed and then I'll meet you in the shower," he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"I like the way you think Anderson. This is the kind of teamwork the CIA is counting on," she kissed him again and grabbed the groceries.

***555***

Danielle excused herself when they arrived in Sao Paolo and freshened up from the overnight flight, changing into a loose sundress she had packed in her carry-on and washing her face and brushing her teeth.

The pair collected their bags and rental car and were on their way to the safe house, just about an hour away. The ride was pretty and Danielle looked out the window at the vegetation noticing the change from inland to seaside landscape as they approached Santos.

When they were about 15 minutes from the safe house Calder called Auggie.

"We are almost there. Yes, flight was easy. See you soon," Calder ended the call and turned to Danielle.

"I didn't want to sneak up on Auggie," he explained the call.

"I think Auggie is more observant than most," Danielle smiled.

"He's pretty impressive," Calder agreed.

***555***

"Was that Calder?" Annie came out of the bathroom where she had been trying to do something with her hair.

"Yes, they are almost here," Auggie tried not to show his own nerves after he worked so hard to calm her down.

"OK, I will stay back here until you or Calder come back for me," she reiterated the plan.

"Annie, I know this is going to be a hard few days, but just remember that Danielle loves you and even if she is angry about this, she will come around. Don't be discouraged by her initial reaction," he said rationally.

He kissed her then and made his way to the living room to wait for the car to arrive. Not long after he sat on the couch he heard the crunch of the crushed shell driveway and made his way to the front door, he ran a hand through his hair and opened the door.

"Auggie!" Danielle called as she made her way to the door, Calder offering to bring in the bags.

"Danielle," he smiled back a broad smile.

He let her enter the house and she came in before launching herself into his arms. He squeezed her tightly, letting go only when he heard Calder enter and place the bags by the door.

"Calder, thanks for making the trip," Auggie held out his hand and Calder shook it.

"My pleasure, you look good man, much better than last time I saw you," Calder observed.

"Turns out I needed a vacation," Auggie shrugged,

"Auggie, I am really happy to see you, but why am I really here?" Danielle asked as she took a seat on the couch.

"I'm going to put these bags in the bedrooms," Calder excused himself.

"Danielle, this is going to be a big shock for you and I have been debating how to tell you, but I think the easiest thing to do is just say it outright. Annie is alive," Auggie stopped and gave Danielle a second to absorb what he said.

"What do you mean? We stood at her grave 6 months ago, we buried her Auggie. Are you OK?" she asked and reached for his arm.

"I'm fine Danielle, I haven't gone round the bend or anything, Annie is alive, she's here," Auggie stood and walked back to the bedroom door.

He opened the door and Annie stood from the bed where she had been sitting patiently. She walked by and kissed Auggie on the cheek before stepping into the living room.

"Hello Dani," Annie said with a grim smile.

TBC…


	11. Santos P2

Globe Trotting - Santos P2

"Annie," Danielle's eyes went wide as she flew across the room and engulfed her younger sister in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my God, Annie," she repeated over and over against Annie's hair.

For her part Annie just held on, so happy to see her sister after so very long. Auggie and Calder held back by the bedrooms and just observed.

"What happened? Where have you been? Was there some mix-up, mistaken identity thing? Were you held captive? Oh my God, were you in a foreign prison?" Danielle babbled incoherently through every possible reason for Annie's absence and supposed death.

"Danielle….Danielle…Danielle!" Annie tried to break in several times.

"Sorry. I'm just so shocked to see you, so glad, but so shocked. Where have you been all this time?" Danielle finally asked calmly and Annie separated from her and moved towards the couch.

"Dani, sit down. I'll tell you everything."

"Your hair…" Danielle noticed and slowly pieces began to fall into place.

"You weren't captured, you were under cover? You were safe all this time? And you let us think you were dead?" Danielle looked over at Auggie and the anguish on his face betrayed his guilt.

"Oh wait, it was just me? You let ME believe you were dead while you two played some little spy game with the CIA?" Danielle was working up a full head of steam.

"Danielle, you know it wasn't a game, it was very serious," Annie tried to be calm.

"What could possibly have been so important that you would purposefully mislead me like that. Mislead Chloe and Katia, Annie your nieces think you are dead, do you not understand the significance of that?" Danielle backed away from Annie as if she were dangerous.

"Danielle…"Auggie began as he approached.

"No!" she turned on him.

"You! You stood with me, you held my hand… you, you cried at her funeral. You are an even better actor than this one," she pointed towards Annie with derision.

"You had to believe she was dead…."Auggie trailed off as he realized he was giving her the same exact excuse Arthur had given him about Helen and it made his stomach twist.

"What? For the good of the country? You had to destroy my life and my children's' lives for the good of the country?" Danielle tried to control her tears.

"The good of the world really," Calder interjected.

"And who the hell is this guy?" Danielle pointed towards Calder.

"Our boss and our friend, Danielle, he made this safe and possible," Annie tried not to mention he also pulled the trigger.

"So was I the only one in the dark? Was this an elaborate ruse to deceive just me? Clearly there was a bigger agenda."

"The only people who knew the truth were the three of us," Annie explained.

"Everyone else in the world thought Annie was dead, Danielle, it wasn't just you. Most of them still do think she is dead," Auggie explained.

"Are you safe now?" Danielle asked concerned.

"Yes," Annie nodded although the idea of feeling safe was still tenuous.

"So you are coming home?" Danielle continued.

"Not exactly," Annie sighed as Danielle's nostrils flared.

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"Auggie and I have been offered an assignment abroad, it is a good idea while the dust settles in DC from this last mission ," she explained.

"So you are just going to traipse around the world and leave us to mourn you?"

"While I will technically remain dead, I do not have to hide as I did before. That is why we asked you here Danielle. The CIA is allowing me to come out to you and the girls, to re-establish contact," Annie tried not to use the clinical terms, but in a way it was easier.

"Isn't that nice of them," Danielle snorted.

"If you want me to explain everything to the girls…."

"I don't want you anywhere near the girls!" Danielle turned and stormed out of the room.

The back door slammed shut and Annie looked over at Calder and Auggie with fear.

"I have the car keys, she can't go far," Calder assured.

"The horrible thing is, she's right," Annie swallowed a sob.

"Annie…." Auggie tried to assuage her guilt as he moved across the room towards her.

"If I were her I wouldn't let me near the kids either," Annie stood and brushed Auggie's arm, pulling him into an embrace.

"I told you to prepare for difficult, give her some time to absorb it all," he murmured against her hair and rocked her in place.

***555***

Two hours later Annie could still see Danielle sitting by the edge of the water. Annie picked at her salad while Calder and Auggie caught up on some office gossip from Langley. They could have been braiding each other's hair and Annie wouldn't have noticed, her eyes never left the form of her sister on the beach.

"Annie, eat your dinner," Auggie chided gently.

"How do you know I haven't?" she challenged.

"Lucky guess?" he shrugged.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Calder offered and Annie looked confused.

"Maybe she will listen to someone she isn't so emotionally attached to," he suggested.

"It's not a bad idea," Auggie supported the plan.

"If I lay out the facts, or as many of the facts as I can, maybe she will begin to see the magnitude of what was really going on, get the bigger picture."

"At this point it can't hurt, thanks Calder," Annie agreed.

***555***

"Hey, you OK?" Calder asked as he approached, trying not to startle Danielle.

She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, but nodded.

"They send you down here to fight their battles?"

"I volunteered," Calder shrugged and sat next to Danielle in the sand.

"Brave," she wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Your sister is brave."

"That isn't in doubt, she is very brave, at the expense of all others."

"She can be too focused, too stubborn and too prone to going off book, yes. Her heart is in the right place though," Calder tried.

"Why did she do this?"

"Glad you asked. Of course I can't give you all the information, but I can try to paint the picture. A man named Henry Wilcox…"

"I know who he is," Danielle interrupted.

"OK, good. Henry Wilcox was released from jail last year and his son Jai was killed."

"I met Jai once, he was so handsome," Danielle interrupted again, but Calder was glad she was engaged.

"He got his looks from his mother. Anyway, Henry was determined to avenge Jai's death and make a lot of money in the process. He tried using Annie against a lot of people at Langley, including Auggie, by providing some vague intel about a supposed terrorist," Calder paused assuming Danielle would interrupt.

"Annie would never doubt Auggie."

"She didn't so she investigated on her own and found out that it was Henry who was the real terrorist. He had a global network of for-profit terrorists and no matter how we tried to stop him he always seemed to be one step ahead…." Calder continued to talk and Danielle quieted down and listened.

***555***

"What do we do now?" Annie said after she did the dishes and made a plate of food for Danielle if she decided to ever come back up to the house.

"We wait, she needs as much time as she needs," Auggie shrugged and found her hand.

"Yeah," Annie sighed and followed when Auggie tugged her towards a chaise lounge on the terrace.

He stretched out on the chaise and was pleased when she joined him, snuggling in close and tangling her legs with his.

"She'll come around," he whispered in her ear.

"You really think so?" she looked up at him hopefully.

"I do. I know from experience it is impossible not to love you Annie, she loves you, she'll come around," he said honestly and was rewarded with a kiss.

TBC…


	12. Santos P3

Globe Trotting – Santos P3

The evening turned to night, dark and cool. Auggie considered waking Annie or at least getting up to find a blanket, but he was so comfortable, so he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, rolled her next to him and covered her with his own warmth.

Auggie wasn't sure if the temperature or Calder's words drove Danielle back to the house eventually, but he could hear them approaching.

"Hey," he said out of the dark startling them both and rousing Annie.

"Danielle?" she asked Auggie.

"I'm here," Danielle said.

Annie sat up and rubbed at her eyes, the 4 of them facing off in near pitch darkness was disorienting, at least to ¾ of them.

"Will you stay the night?" Annie asked hopefully.

"Yes, we can talk in the morning," Danielle agreed.

"Thank you," was all Annie could say in return.

Auggie gave Danielle a tour of the safe house, which was entertaining.

"I think that is a bathroom, if it is a closet please don't pee in there," he said with a grin knowing full well it was a bathroom.

Danielle blanched and then saw the mischief in his eyes. How could these two be so charming and so diabolical at the same time? Danielle assumed that was what made them effective spies.

"Calder is down the hall and Annie and I are right across the hall here. She left some food for you in the fridge if you are hungry…"

"You still call her Annie," Danielle realized.

"Not in public, but most of the time, yes. She's been through a lot Danielle, but she is still Annie."

Danielle yawned. "I need some sleep."

"Of course, sleep well," Auggie smiled, turned precisely towards the room he shared with Annie and Danielle watched him trail his fingers along the wall before turning for her own room.

***555***

Annie slept in fits and starts, unsettled for the first night in over a week. She tried to keep still, not wanting to disturb Auggie. She listened intently for any sounds in the safe house and shortly after the first light of the day crept in she heard someone moving around.

Annie slipped out of bed, gently placing Auggie's arm which had been curled around her waist across his stomach. He murmured and shifted in his sleep. She kissed his temple gently and lingered until he settled back to sleep before padding quietly out of the room.

Danielle was sitting at the kitchen table with her leftovers, eating quickly. Annie didn't want to startle her so she shuffled her feet to make a soft noise.

"Morning," Danielle mumbled around a mouthful of salad.

"Good morning," Annie smiled at her sister.

"I was starving," Danielle shrugged.

"I bet," Annie replied and set about making coffee.

"You look good," Danielle observed.

"Thanks, I had a little vacation after everything happened," Annie was vague about the details of what happened.

"Calder tried to tell me what happened, as much as he could," Danielle mentioned.

"It's been such a surreal year Dani. I want to say it has been horrible, and in many ways it has, but…." Annie trailed off.

"Auggie," was all Danielle had to say.

"Even that hasn't been all good, but it is so real. I feel so differently about him than anyone else in the world. It is this combination of affection and desire…." Annie tried to explain it.

"You love him Annie, that's good."

"You aren't here so we can talk about my relationship with Auggie though," Annie brought the conversation back to reality.

"It would be easier if I were. We could have ice cream and talk about what your first kiss was like," Danielle said with whimsy.

"I hope we can find that place again someday, when we can be comfortable with each other," Annie said sincerely as she placed a cup of fresh coffee in front of Danielle.

"For so long Annie, you were the only constant in my life…."

"…and you mine," Annie confirmed.

"I know that and while we both don't need one another like we did as kids, it is incredibly hard for me to be let in and out of your life like this. I'm not saying I wish you were really dead, of course not, but I mourned you Annie, do you have any idea what the past 6 months have been like for me?"

"Not really, no. I was in mourning too Danielle, but I understand that it was different. Auggie too, he was truly devastated by what I did and he was in a constant state of fear," Annie was not going to explain that Auggie had been through a very similar experience as Danielle, it wasn't her secret to share.

"How did you do it?" Danielle said.

"How did I go dark? Like, how did I 'die'?" Annie swallowed.

"No, I know you can't tell me that, I already asked Calder. How did you exist during that time? Alone."

"It was incredibly hard. I had to completely focus on my goal, but there were certainly moments when I couldn't help but think of you or Auggie. I was dying for chocolate one day and bought a Kinder Egg," Annie smiled when Danielle's eyes lit up.

"What was in it?" Danielle asked anxiously.

"A hippo with a life preserver," Annie laughed.

"Of course," Danielle shook her head.

"I would see Auggie everywhere or see a really un-blind-friendly entrance or something and I had to push it all aside for the mission."

Annie and Danielle continued talking and drinking the coffee until Annie realized it was nearly gone and close to the time Auggie and Calder would be getting up. She began making a fresh pot for them.

"Morning," speak of the devil, the gravelly morning voice made her smile.

"We drank all the coffee, but there is still some in my cup, at your 12:00" she admitted and laughed when she turned to find her boyfriend shirtless and her sister's jaw on the floor.

Auggie found the cup and took a sip.

"You forgot your shirt," Annie laughed.

"I went to grab it and found yours, I am guessing you are wearing mine," he smirked.

"As usual, yes. You do have others," she teased and was rewarded with his arms enveloping her from behind.

Danielle turned to get a good view of the other side of shirtless Auggie before returning her eyes to her coffee cup.

"Good morning," he whispered in her ear.

Annie finished measuring the coffee with a shaky hand and set the pot to brew before turning in his arms and kissing him soundly.

"Good morning. Go find a shirt, coffee will be ready in a few. I'll even splurge and make you a bowl of cereal," she promised with another kiss.

"OK, but I am taking your coffee for the time being," he smiled and swiped the cup on his way out of the kitchen.

Annie laughed outright at the look on Danielle's face.

"Oh my God," Danielle whispered.

"He's a good looking man," Annie giggled and for a second there was no tension, it was like old times.

TBC…

Note: Shirtless Auggie makes everything better.


	13. Santos P4

Globe Trotting – Santos P4

At the hottest part of the day Annie, Auggie, Calder and Danielle stood at the edge of the ocean, their feet in the water each lost in their own thoughts. Auggie could feel the tension radiating off of Annie and tried to soothe it with a warm hand against her bare back.

"I'm going to have a very odd tan line if you keep your hand there much longer," she teased.

He surreptitiously slid the hand to her ass which was covered by the slight sundress she wore. She just laughed.

"It's pretty here," Danielle mentioned.

"How about we go for a walk Danielle?" Auggie suggested.

"Yeah," she nodded. She had talked to Calder and Annie, but not Auggie and she had some questions for the man her sister loved so much.

"I actually have a few things to discuss with Annie as well," Calder encouraged.

"OK, you go that way and we'll go this way," Auggie pointed and Annie corrected his direction as he planned to walk he and Danielle out into the ocean.

"I would have figured it out when the water hit my knees," he smiled.

Danielle directed them in the opposite direction and she guided Auggie down the sandy coastline with ease. They walked a while in comfortable silence until Danielle finally blurted out.

"She loves you Auggie, I have never seen her in love before, really in love," Danielle rushed it all out in one breath.

Auggie was slightly stunned, he didn't think this would be her main point.

"I love her too, Danielle," he assured.

"Is she really OK? It sounds like she went through a lot."

"She is getting better. She is quieter than she used to be and she has had some nightmares, but I notice a lot of old Annie traits coming back. To do what she did successfully you have to become someone else and a lot of people can't find their old selves after it is over," Auggie said honestly.

"I bet they all don't have someone like you to help them."

"Annie has a good network, despite all the craziness that went down back home, Calder and a few other key people in DC are as invested in Annie's wellbeing as we are."

"I am glad to hear that, but no one gets her the way you do Auggie. I noticed that way back before you were even together, you understand each other and you are the one person she lets her guard down around. Her voice changes when she talks to you," Danielle smiled remembering he look on Annie's face when she first said that.

"It is rare that someone who does what Annie does has that. I am glad to be that person Danielle, really glad," Auggie paused and turned towards the sound of the water.

"So what is next for you two?" Danielle asked.

"You mean professionally or personally?" Auggie replied.

"Either, both. With you two I will take any information you are willing to give."

***555***

"You look much better Walker," Calder said as they began their walk in a different direction.

"I feel better, more stable," she assured.

"You know Langley is going to send a shrink to see you before your first official assignment, right?"

"I assumed."

"I can tell by looking at you that you are eating and sleeping, which was in doubt when I saw you last, so that alone is a good sign. They just want to know that you are processing everything you went through."

"I am. We are," Annie smiled.

"Good. Auggie looks better too, less like he might take my head off at any minute."

Annie chuckled at that.

"Are you prepared for Danielle to leave?"

"Yes. I hope it is on a positive note. I don't expect full understanding or forgiveness, just a crack that it might happen someday. That she will let me see the girls someday," Annie answered honestly.

"As long as you are realistic about the situation."

"All good signs of my improving mental health?" she smiled.

"Yes."

"Do you know what our first assignment is going to be?"

"No, they really want the shrink to sign off first, but I know the type of assignments they are lining up for you two. Strategic infiltrations of terrorist activities, utilizing your creativity and Auggie's brain. I have to say those of us planning are excited at the possibilities," Calder whispered.

"We are too, I think we are ready to get back to work," Annie turned and could barely make out Auggie and Danielle way down the shore.

***555***

"Personally, we are doing better. We spent two weeks mostly not talking about work and didn't want to kill each other, so I feel good about that," he laughed.

"Professionally we are awaiting our first new gig. I imagine the powers that be will want to have some conversations with Annie and probably me too after our last mission, make sure we are good to go," Auggie began.

"Like psychologically?"

"Yes, the company is very big on good mental health. I should know," Auggie chuckled and Danielle stopped walking.

"Don't worry Danielle, I'm not unstable, I just get a little frustrated sometimes with this," he waved his hands in front of his eyes.

"Really? You seem so Zen," she continued walking.

"I try to be, but sometimes it is all I can do to get out of bed," he admitted.

"Can I ask you a question?" Danielle changed course suddenly.

"Sure."

"Did you know me before I knew you?"

"You mean in a creepy wire-tapping kind of way? Not really. I had read everything there was to read about you as part of Annie's profile when she came up from the farm and then I got a lot of stories from Annie herself before you and I officially met, but was I spying on you? No," Auggie confirmed.

"OK," Danielle shrugged and encouraged the continuation of their walk.

"I did actively deceive you a lot before Annie read you in," Auggie confessed.

"How so?"

"Annie never actually saw the world's largest ball of twine," Auggie laughed.

"Ahhhh."

"And remember when you found her passport? When she was supposed to be in Scotland?"

"Yes…." Danielle said cautiously.

"I ran interference on that with the British Consulate."

"So she wasn't in New York or Scotland?"

"Not even close," Auggie remembered those dark hours he worried about Annie in Belarus.

"Where was she?" Danielle asked and laughed when Auggie turned his saddest face her way.

"So I was a real pain in your ass?" she asked a different question.

"Not at all, Annie loves you and part of assisting her was helping her manage her life with you. I wanted you both to be happy, it was easy to send a post card or a text to sell her cover."

"You guys really are quite a team."

"So are you, you have a bond I cannot even begin to understand. Don't get me wrong I love my brothers, well 3 of them anyway, but it is completely different than what you two have."

"I know," she smiled.

***555***

When the two pairs reunited at the starting point Calder and Auggie left the women to head up to the house. Calder and Danielle would be leaving soon for the airport and the men had done all the talking they could do.

"I'm sorry I was so angry," Danielle began.

"Don't be sorry Danielle, you were honest and I deserve to think about what my actions have cost everyone in my life. I will be doing a lot of that very soon."

"Auggie said they might make you talk to a psychiatrist."

"Yes, before I can work again," Annie confirmed with a nod.

"I still don't know what to do about the girls Annie, truly, how do I tell them this?"

"I don't know."

"Me either, but Christmas is in a couple weeks, maybe there is a Hallmark card for this kind of thing?" Danielle snorted.

"There would be more cause for it than you would think," Annie grinned.

"Can we talk again after you have your sessions and before your first mission?" Danielle asked rationally.

"Of course."

"Once your path is set and things are stable, or as stable as they can be, maybe I could bring the girls to see you, maybe."

"That is all I ask, that you consider it," Annie stumbled a bit on the emotion building.

"I love you Annie and I am so glad you are OK," Danielle hugged her sister tightly.

***555***

"I'll talk to you both soon," Calder said good-bye and headed out to the car.

Annie and Auggie waved and turned to Danielle.

"Take care of each other," Danielle said with a watery smile.

"We will," Auggie assured her as he hugged her close.

"I'll talk to you soon," Annie sniffled as she joined the hug.

And suddenly Danielle was gone and Auggie wrapped Annie fully into his arms and held her as she wept against his shoulder. He could feel sorrow, but also relief pour out of her. Everything was far from perfect, but their steps seemed to be in the right direction.

When it seemed Annie had stopped crying he scooped her in his arms and found the couch.

"Rest, Annie," he whispered against her ear and smiled as she melted against him, her body free of the tension he had felt there earlier on the beach.

The End …of Santos

Note: Tune in next week to see where the CIA sends Annie and Auggie for their evaluations!


	14. Helsinki P1

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P1

Note: My random city generator is putting Annie and Auggie in one of the best cities in the world to celebrate Christmas in….lucky them! But first, a little separation is in order.

The CIA jet stopped in Morocco to re-fuel on the 7,000 mile trek from Brazil to Helsinki, Finland. Annie paced the length of the cabin as Auggie counted her paces.

"They'll probably separate us at the airport," he prepared.

"I know," she nodded.

"You OK with that?"

"I would prefer not to be separated from you again, but I understand," she breathed deeply.

"If I were them I would start with me, leaving you to ruminate for a while. They will probably ask you to journal your experiences or they will isolate you completely but have eyes on you to see how you respond," Auggie tried coaching her as he did in all things.

"I'll be fine," she assured him as she paced back and sank into his lap.

"Calder is sending appropriate attire, our wardrobes for the last 3 locations won't do us much good in Helsinki in mid December," he smirked as his hand found her bare legs under a short skirt.

"Have you ever been to Helsinki at Christmas time?" Annie said wistfully.

"No and in fact, totally forgot about Christmas," he grinned.

"If we don't get whisked right out to our first mission I am going to take you on a date in Helsinki then. It is my turn to wow you with my romantic side," she kissed him softly.

"You wow me all the time Walker," he smiled into the next kiss and was rewarded with a swipe of Annie's tongue across his bottom lip.

"We are ready to take off again, please be seated and fasten your seatbelts," the first officer reported from the flight deck as Annie sighed, ended the kiss and slipped from Auggie's lap into her own seat.

***555***

As Auggie anticipated there were 2 black SUVs waiting at the airport in Vantaa. Two company men approached the pair as they deplaned. Annie shivered against the frigid Finnish air, but tried not to show weakness to the men heading their way.

"Operative Anderson my name is Justin Tucker, you will be riding with me Sir," Justin brushed Auggie's arm to indicate he was familiar with sighted lead and Annie smiled at the young man.

"It's Auggie, Justin, and no need for the Sir," he smiled and transferred his hold from Annie to Justin with a lingering squeeze on Annie's elbow.

"Be good," she admonished.

"Meeeee?" he turned back with a wink.

"Operative Walker, I am Carlton Davis, you'll be coming with me," he pointed to the lead SUV.

Annie watched Auggie slip into the follow car before she slid across the back seat of her own vehicle, leaving room for Carlton. Carlton tapped the glass to the driver compartment and the engine roared to life.

The landscape was a mix of bleak winter white and gorgeous blue sea as they approached the Radisson Blu on the Gulf of Finland. Annie was keeping an eye out and saw Auggie's vehicle enter the same parking facility.

Carlton escorted her to a room where a suitcase was waiting.

"Feel free to freshen up and have some lunch," he indicated a room service tray, "I will be back at 3:00. There is an officer outside your room, you are not a prisoner, but we would like to keep you isolated for the duration of your time with us."

It sounded so civilized, Annie just nodded, already prepared for the feeling of captivity. Truthfully a shower and some food sounded good enough to stay in for, she hoped Auggie got the same treatment. She opened the suitcase and was pleased to see her actual clothes. Calder must have sent someone to the storage unit, or gone himself. She lifted a soft pair of jeans, a long sleeve tee shirt and a thick sweater along with some undies and a thick pair of socks from the case.

After depositing her clothes and toiletries in the sleek Scandinavian bathroom she took a peak at the room service tray and ate half a sandwich before starting the shower.

***555***

"There is food for you Sir," Justin Tucker had a hard time not calling Auggie Sir.

Tucker had read Auggie's file top to bottom and was kind of amazed at the Operative in front of him.

"Is any of it moose? I am not saying that is a deal breaker, I am pretty hungry, but it is good to be prepared for these kinds of things," Auggie cringed.

"No Sir, it appears to be a turkey sandwich and some salad," he led Auggie to the chair and described the place setting to him.

"Thanks Tucker," Auggie smiled as he found the sandwich and took a bite.

Before he could swallow there was a knock at the door. Justin looked through the peep hole and opened the door.

"Hello Justin," Auggie heard a woman's voice.

"Ma'am. I'll leave you alone, just call if you need me. Enjoy your lunch Auggie," Justin said as he departed.

Auggie swallowed his mouthful of sandwich, wiped his hands on a napkin and stood to greet his new companion.

"Operative Anderson, my name is Dr. Julia Baker, I am a CIA psychiatrist and I will be doing your evaluation, please be seated and enjoy your lunch, this is just a preliminary session. In fact, I only have one question for you today," she smiled and sat in an arm chair near Auggie.

Auggie took his seat and sipped the water on his tray and waited for the one question.

"Do you trust Annie Walker?" Dr. Baker asked.

"Yes." Auggie replied without hesitation.

"OK, I will see you again tomorrow. Thank you," Auggie waited and nothing happened. Finally he heard the door close.

***555***

Annie emerged from the bathroom warm and cozy in her familiar clothes. She began picking at the lunch when there was a knock at the door. She looked through the peep hole to find Carlton with a woman in her late 50's, professionally dressed and wearing reading glasses and reading a file.

Annie opened the door and Carlton smiled but said nothing, he remained in the hall as Dr. Baker entered the room.

"Operative Walker, I am Dr. Julia Baker, I will be conducting your evaluations," she offered her hand and Annie shook it.

"Nice to meet you."

"I see you have found your clothes and lunch, we won't be long and you can return to relaxing. I actually only have one question for you today," Dr. Baker indicated that Annie should sit and eat.

"OK," Annie did as was indicated and waited for the one question.

"Do you trust Auggie Anderson?" Dr. Baker asked.

TBC…


	15. Helsinki P2

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P2

"Yes," Annie said without blinking.

Dr. Baker paused and looked at the woman in front of her. Annie looked right back.

"OK, then we are done for today. I will be back tomorrow, get some rest and enjoy the hotel."

With that Julia Baker left the room and Annie sat and finished her lunch. She wondered what would have happened if she had answered differently, but there was no other answer to give. Annie trusted Auggie with her life.

It was strange for Annie to be alone again. She had been alone for so many months, but these past few weeks of constant companionship had grown on her, the room was sleek and cool, but lonely without Auggie in it. She opened the door to the hall.

"Do you need something Operative Walker," a different young man asked.

"I was wondering if I could speak with Calder Michaels?"

"Sure, I'll get him on the line for you," the agent said as he pulled out a phone.

Annie heard code word clearances given and soon the phone was handed over to her.

"Everything OK Annie?" he said by way of greeting.

"Everything is fine," she said taking the call into her room.

"I was wondering if it would be OK if I changed my hair, you know, back to my old hair. I wasn't sure if you were planning my missions around my appearance in any way," she said hesitantly.

"If we need you in dark hair I'll personally buy you a wig, go ahead and do what you like with your real hair," Calder smiled relieved on the other end.

"Thanks," she hung up and returned the phone to the agent in the hall.

"I know I am supposed to restrict my interactions, but I was hoping to make an appointment at the salon, could you guys do a sweep and make sure that is OK?" she asked sweetly.

Again the phone came out and the agent radioed another member of the team. Less than 5 minutes later it was relayed that Annie could go down at 5:00 pm and have the place to herself. She thanked everyone involved and returned to the room with a smile.

***555***

Auggie mapped his room after Dr. Baker left. He moved a few things out of his way and unpacked the suitcase he found on the bed. The clothes were his, braille labels and all, so it was easy for him to arrange outfits and store everything away.

He was about to take a shower when a better idea occurred to him. He opened the hallway door.

"You need something Sir?" Justin asked.

"I was wondering if I could use the gym? One of you guys feel like a workout?" Auggie smiled.

A phone was produced and the whereabouts of Annie uncovered.

"Sure, the fitness center is clear," Justin announced.

"Great, I'll be changed in 10 minutes," Auggie smiled and closed the door again.

***555***

"Good evening Miss Walker," the stylist said in good, if heavily-accented, English.

Annie was relieved, her Finnish was passable but when it came to her hair she didn't want there to be any confusion.

"Hello," she smiled and took a seat.

"What would you like done tonight?"

"I have some extensions that need to be removed and I would like the color stripped down to my natural color. Is that possible?"

"Certainly," the woman smiled with seeming understanding.

"After that just a trim and a blow out, please."

"Are you in a hurry?" the woman went about setting up her station.

"Not at all," Annie assured.

"Great, I'll make some tea and we'll get started."

***555***

Justin led Auggie to the hotel's fitness center, at dinner time it was pretty empty.

"What are we looking at Tucker?" Auggie said enthusiastically.

"A wall of treadmills and ellipticals, a few stationary bikes and a free weight area with some mats. 3 people on ellipticals, the rest is clear," he reported.

"I think I'll warm up on a bike please," Auggie smiled as Justin took him over to a recumbent bike.

"Perfect, thank you," Auggie sat, adjusted the seat and managed to get the bike started with no further instruction, even in Finland the machines were all set up pretty much the same.

He rode for twenty minutes, feeling the muscles in his legs loosen and his heart rate inch up. He and Annie had tried to exercise often on their vacation, but given the choice between working out and staying in bed they had tended towards the later. Not that that decision hadn't resulted in some elevated heart rates.

"Free weight area clear?" Auggie asked as he wiped down the bike.

"Yes, we have one woman on a treadmill left," Justin reported.

"Great," Auggie unfurled his cane and swept the area finding he weights and setting up a perimeter for himself before hitting the mat for some crunches and push-ups.

***555***

The next morning breakfast arrived at her room with no provocation. Annie padded to the door in her pajamas to retrieve the food and was just pouring a cup of coffee when Dr. Baker knocked on the door. Annie noticed there were 2 coffee cups.

"Joining me for breakfast?" Annie asked.

"You changed your hair," Dr. Baker began.

"I did, had to kill my downtime somehow."

"It is very different."

"It is my original hair, I had changed my appearance while I was dark," Annie pointed out certain the woman had seen her file and knew what she used to look like.

"Why did you make the decision?"

"I wanted to feel more like myself," Annie admitted.

"And do you?"

"Yes."

"Your hair made that much of a difference?"

"I think many women would admit that their hair is a significant aspect of their personality, an outward manifestation of emotion on the inside. It's not just my hair though, these past few weeks have allowed me to return to parts of myself I thought I lost," Annie curled up with her coffee and picked at a danish.

"Such as?"

"Laughter and joy. I had fun on my vacation and realized that I could allow myself that without reproach or recrimination. I deserve happiness," Annie knew these were the types of things the company shrink wanted to hear, but she wasn't lying.

"Is that because of Auggie?"

"Auggie is a big part of all the good in my life, but he isn't the only good in my life."

"You two are going to be together a lot on your new assignment, are you ready for that?"

"Yes."

"How did you sleep last night?"

Annie was startled by the change in subject.

"OK, a little jet lagged, but ok."

"The bed looks like you tossed quite a bit," Dr. Baker mentioned and Annie realized the cause of the early morning visit.

"I feel rested."

"Are you still having nightmares?"

"I haven't remembered a nightmare in over a week," Annie knocked on wood for good measure.

"That doesn't mean you aren't having them," Dr. Baker indicated the strewn bed clothes.

"It was strange to sleep alone," Annie admitted.

"Do you feel remorse for the death of Henry Wilcox?"

"I don't like killing people, but I came to terms with the fact that in my line of work, sometimes that happens."

Dr. Baker sat quietly and as expected Annie continued.

"In reality though, I had stopped thinking of Henry as human. The things he did, the crimes he committed were sub-human. By the time I killed him he no longer resembled the person I met 4 years ago."

"Could you kill again if the cause arose?"

"Yes," Annie said simply.

"Do you trust the Agency?"

"Not entirely, but I trust the people I trust. If that makes any sense," Annie laughed.

"Enough," Dr. Baker smiled.

"I believe in the greater good and am willing to sacrifice for it. I think if I have proven anything these past months it is that."

"How much are you willing to sacrifice?"

"My life."

"Are you suicidal?"

"No, if I were suicidal, I would be actually dead and not assumed dead."

"You haven't considered killing yourself?"

"No."

"You put yourself in significantly dangerous situations. Did the thought ever cross your mind?"

"Afield operative comes to terms with her mortality early on in this job, I understood the risks and accepted them."

"Do you think you have something to live for?"

"Yes."

"You walked away from an awful lot, your relationship with your sister and nieces, your income, Auggie…."

"If Henry had succeeded Auggie would be in jail and the world would not be a safe place for my sister and my nieces. I could do something about that, I was in a unique position to help and I did," Annie said all of this calmly.

"Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"Anything."

"I'm not real fond of spiders," Annie smirked and got an eye roll in response.

"I am scared that my sister will not completely trust me again, that she won't let me see my nieces. I am scared that Auggie will get hurt, that our relationship will put him in physical danger," Annie tugged at the sleeve of her pajamas.

Dr. Baker just nodded and jotted something down before standing.

"Thanks for your time Annie," she reached to shake hands.

"Are we done?"

"Yes, best of luck."

TBC…


	16. Helsinki P3

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P3

Auggie finished his breakfast and showered and dressed in jeans a and a sweater, unsure of what his day had in store. His watch revealed it was only 10 am when the knock came.

"Auggie, it is Justin and Dr. Baker," the young man informed.

Auggie opened the door and stepped aside.

"Good morning Auggie," the woman greeted as Justin exited.

"Good morning. There is coffee on the table if you'd like some," he offered and heard the tinkle of china as she set a cup on a saucer.

Auggie was used to company-dictated psychiatric evaluations, so he made himself comfortable and waited.

"How long have you known Annie Walker?" Dr. Baker asked and Auggie knew she knew the answer.

"I met Annie 4 years ago when she was brought up from the farm, I was assigned to be her handler."

"I didn't ask when you met," Dr. Baker said with a smile in her voice.

"Annie came up fresh, she was very open from the day we met. I felt we connected as partners very quickly. I really felt I knew her and could anticipate her behavior early on," Auggie said honestly.

"Was she brought up too early?"

"Aside from missing fire arms training her skill level was quite high. Emotionally she could have benefited from a less stressful transition, but she persevered."

"When did you realize you were in love with her?"

"If I'm honest with myself it was very early on, but Annie had enough on her plate at the time, I tried to let those feelings go. We were always moving in different directions personally, but our work kept us close from day one."

"And when the two converged?"

"I had never dated an Operative, it is difficult, but I trust Annie's skills and her mind."

"So you weren't worried or hurt when she chose to follow Henry Wilcox in the dark?"

"I was both of those things for a while, but we are trained to let our heads overrule our hearts," he said honestly.

"And you are OK with living like that?"

"Yes, what I learned these past few months is I want Annie Walker in my life as much as she can be and when she can't be I will support her fully."

"Doesn't seem like the best relationship for you," Dr. Baker prodded.

"It is the life we have chosen and we both made that choice before we knew one another. Would I like a different life with Annie, sure. I'd also still like to be able to see, but that isn't the life I have."

"Are you angry with the Agency?"

"In general or for something specific?"

"You've given up a lot for them and it seems they continue to disappoint."

"The Agency has been a source of great pride and great sorrow for me. I have lost a lot, given up a lot, but in return I have made the world a safer place. Many people lose as much or more than I have for a lot less. It hasn't always been easy, but I have learned to manage the give and take of this world I chose."

"How do you feel about the death of Helen Hansen?"

Auggie was struck by the drastic shift in topic and he hoped the clenching of his stomach was not apparent to his interviewer.

"Which one?"

That question was met with silence.

"Her first death was devastating. I was young and hadn't dealt with much loss yet, I felt invincible and strong and brave and it shook me that that could be taken away so quickly."

"And now?"

"I've been through a lot more. I was sad to hear that Helen was dead, but truly I had already mourned her."

"You spent the night together right before she died."

That wasn't a question, Auggie thought.

"Yes," he offered no further explanation.

"Have you and Annie sorted through the ramifications of that?"

"There are no ramifications of that. I made a choice, I regretted it and I explained that to Annie. She accepted that and we have moved on," Auggie said rationally.

"Are you prepared to be away from home for an extended period of time?"

"It is no secret that I have wanted to get out of Langley and be more actively involved in field work."

"Working with Annie made that possible?"

"Yes, over time I was able to get out of the office a little more, prove I still have value in the field."

"Do you feel valuable?"

That was a shrink question if ever he heard one.

"Yes."

"You don't worry about being a liability to Annie?" she asked calmly.

"There are moments when I realize that I could call attention to us or slow her down in a foot race, but we have a very good intuition about one another, we read each other very well and have learned to adapt. She is the most natural sighted person in my life, she anticipates things I don't even anticipate and is quick enough to adjust on the fly."

"Both Calder Michaels and Joan Campbell said almost exactly the same thing from observing you together."

Auggie just smiled and nodded.

"One last question Auggie, given the choice between the Agency and Annie, which would you choose?"

"Annie," he said knowing that might not be the politically correct answer, but it was the truth.

"Thank you for your time," Dr. Baker stood and Auggie followed suit.

***555***

Annie hadn't unpacked, hoping that she would either not be here long or that she could move over to Auggie's room sooner rather than later. She had fished out another outfit and showered after Dr. Baker left. It was well past lunch time and the light in her room had shifted severely edging towards the very early dusk in this part of the world when a knock startled her.

"Yes," she called.

"It's Carlton, Ma'am," he replied and Annie opened the door.

"Director Michaels," he offered her a phone.

"Calder?"

"You are cleared," he greeted.

"That was quick and easy," she smiled.

"My visit with you guys in Brazil sped things a long, this was more of a formality than anything else. I'll call Auggie next, he can move down to your room …."

"It would be better if I move to his," Annie interrupted.

"Huh?" Calder was confused.

"He'll already have his room all mapped out and his stuff arranged, it will be easier if I move in there," she clarified.

"Of course, give me 10 minutes to talk to him and I'll have Carlton bring you up. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, do you guys mind spending Christmas in Finland?"

"No, we aren't needed elsewhere?"

"I am still putting some things together, I will be in touch on the 26th with your first assignment, enjoy the holiday.'

"Thanks Calder, Merry Christmas," Annie smiled and handed the phone back to Carlton.

She quickly gathered the couple items that were scattered in the room and sat waiting for her escort to Auggie.

***555***

Auggie finished his conversation with Calder and headed to the door of his room, he opened it just as Annie was about to knock.

"Hey," she laughed.

"Hey," he replied with a smile.

"I'll take that, thank you both for your cooperation," Justin Tucker said as he snatched the phone from Auggie's hand.

"Thanks Tucker, for everything," Auggie smiled.

"My pleasure Sir," Justin grinned and looked at his shoes as Annie passed into the room and Auggie closed the door.

"I think he has a crush on you," Annie teased.

"He's a good kid, took me to the gym last night to while away my alone time," Auggie shrugged.

"Ahhh, that is what you did to occupy yourself, should have known," she ran her fingers appreciatively along his bicep.

"It was that or watch Curling in Finnish, which is not a lot of fun for the blind, who can't speak Finnish," he confessed.

"I had a little adventure myself without you," she took his hands in hers, stepped closer and placed his hands on the sides of her head.

He followed her lead and ran his hands over her hair, sifting his fingers into the softness of it.

"Is it…?"

"Blonde again? Yes," she confirmed as she nearly purred at the feeling of his fingers against her scalp.

"Nice," he all but growled and pulled her body against his, hugging her closely.

"I missed you last night," she whispered against his shoulder.

"Me too," he nodded bringing his lips close to her ear.

"Apparently I tossed and turned without you," she confessed.

"Mmmm?" he asked as he found her lips with his and kissed her slowly and deeply.

It had the desired reaction as she reached and found the button on his jeans as she walked them back to the still unmade bed in the middle of the room.

"How about you toss and turn with me this time?" he smiled as they tumbled onto the bed.

TBC…


	17. Helsinki P4

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P4

"Oh god Auggie, that was really…" she trailed off and decided to end her sentence with a long kiss.

Finally she rolled off of him and over a couple of times to the edge of the large bed.

"Come back, I just got you back in my bed, where are you going?" he pouted.

"I'll be right back," she laughed as she picked up their far flung clothes and used the bathroom.

It was dark in the room although barely dinner time. The varying time zones and enthusiastic sex combined with the darkness made Annie yawn as she crawled back across the bed to Auggie's side.

"Nap?" she said as she snuggled against his chest.

"Mmmmkay," he sounded close to asleep already.

"Oh, wait," he suddenly sounded much more alert.

"Yes?" she looked up at him amused.

"You promised me a date," he reminded.

"About that…" she ran a finger along the center of his chest.

"Are you breaking up with me again? Give me 10 more minutes and I can show you exactly why that is a bad idea," he rolled her under him.

"No," she giggled as he nipped at her skin.

"No, I am not breaking up with you again, and don't even think that. I was just going to say that I was wondering if we could have our date tomorrow, on Christmas Eve," she placed a hand on his face and turned it so she could look in his eyes.

Even in the dark she could see the smile that blossomed on his face. It was one of the purest Auggie smiles that transformed his whole face.

"Will I get a present?" he asked with glee.

"A date with me isn't present enough?" she chided.

"A Christmas date is extra special though."

"Oh is it?" she asked quietly, brushing the hair back from his forehead.

He just nodded and smiled even wider before leaning down and kissing her, his big hands stroking up and down the sides of her body, turning her body warm and supple.

"I thought we were going to take a nap," she mentioned between kisses.

"I am suddenly wide awake," he mentioned as he found her knee with one hand and hooked her leg around his hip.

***555***

Annie did finally sleep and Auggie slipped out of the bed without disturbing her. He took his wallet and some pajamas and went into the bathroom. He dressed quickly and then started the shower for cover noise and picked up the phone near the sink. Auggie always wondered why hotels had phones in the bathroom, now he had good use for one.

"Good evening Mr. Anderson," the front desk clerk answered.

"Hello, I was wondering if you could connect me to…" Auggie kept his conversation quiet and was happy with the result.

When he finished he ordered some dinner, turned off the shower and returned to bed to find Annie still sleeping.

"Hey," he whispered against her ear.

"Mmmmm," she replied and turned onto her back stretching as far as she could.

"I ordered food and you don't want to sleep all evening or you won't be able to sleep later," he sat up against the headboard and was pleased when she curled into his lap.

"I am so hungry," she mentioned as she started to wake up.

"Good, I ordered lots of food."

"We could have gone out tonight too," she mentioned, "we have been cooped up here since we arrived."

"I'm perfectly content to have you all to myself tonight," he said as he ran his fingers through her hair, luxuriating in how 'Annie' it felt.

"We'll have to make an effort to go out when we can, we could turn into total hermits on this assignment, never interacting with others," she lamented.

"I'll make sure of it," Auggie squeezed her tightly and then let her go to put some clothes on for dinner.

***555***

"Do you want to talk about your session?" Auggie asked over pasta and wine in their pajamas.

"Not much to talk about really, it was easy and brief. Calder said he gave a report after seeing us in Brazil, he must have thought we were OK. Yours?" Annie shrugged.

"She asked me if I felt valuable?"

"Typical shrink question," Annie said what Auggie had thought at the time, but noticed he didn't respond.

When she looked up Auggie's eyes were trained somewhere on the floor and he was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"You do understand your value, right?" she asked tenderly.

He shook off the faraway look and smiled.

"Of course," he blew it off and changed the subject to the weather.

"How cold is it out there?"

"I heard on the news tomorrow is supposed to be about 5," she mentioned.

"Please tell me that is Celsius."

"Yes," she laughed at the look on his face.

"Good, I am all for festively chilly, but I don't want to freeze to death."

"It's warmer than normal and not much snow, but dark as can be," she finished the climate report.

"Well the darkness won't phase me," he grinned.

"There are a ton of Christmas lights downtown to ward off the darkness, it is supposed to be quite something. I thought we could head down there tomorrow afternoon, take a walk…"

"…as part of our date," he pointed out enjoying he idea of a Christmas date.

"Yes, as part of our date," she confirmed.

"I'd go anywhere with you Annie," he said sincerely.

"I know," she found his foot under the table with her own.

"So what do we do tonight?" his voice rose as her toes made their way along his calf.

"There is an enormous bathtub in there or we could see if there is some Finnish Curling on TV…"

"I'll draw the bath, you grab the wine…" he dashed off before she could laugh at her own joke.

***555***

Annie woke rested, soft diffused winter sunlight filtering through the gauzy curtains bright enough to illuminate the bare skin of Auggie's back. She slipped on some clothes and ran a brush through her hair, found the key card to Auggie's room on the dresser and headed down to the lobby.

"Good Morning," the concierge greeted in Finnish and Annie returned the greeting with a Merry Christmas for good measure.

In her passable Finnish she asked about dinner options on such short notice for Christmas Eve. She explained she wanted something special and unique more than fancy, something truly Finnish. The concierge was intrigued by the young lady in front of him and promised to pull a few strings, he gave her the card to a wine bar and restaurant in the design district.

"Ilja is a personal friend, he is the owner of both, he will take good care of you, just give him this," the concierge smiled.

"He'll be there tonight, for Christmas Eve?"

"Oh yes," the concierge smiled.

"I can't thank you enough," Annie smiled back.

"It is Christmas," he shrugged.

Annie stopped in the hotel café and got two large coffees and a few warm pastries and headed back to the room where Auggie still slept. She placed the coffee and pastry next to him on the nightstand and slipped back out of her jeans and sweater, climbing into bed in her underwear and thick warm socks.

"Morning," she ran her fingers through his hair and felt him stir.

"Morning," he turned towards the smell of coffee.

"Breakfast?"

"A traditional Finnish Christmas treat," she announced.

"Coffee?"

"No, coffee is an everyday treat, _Joulutortut," __she clarified._

_"__Oh, of course," he said confused._

_She reached over him to retrieve the box of pastry and was distracted when he kissed her bare shoulder. She soldiered on though and opened the box of warm fresh pastry, the start shaped flaky dough encased a dollop of fresh plum or apricot jam. She handed him an apricot one._

_"__Mmmmm," he sighed as he bit into the buttery dough, the powdered sugar skittered across his chin._

_"__Good?" she asked with a laugh as she kissed the sugar off his face._

_"__Very good," he assured as he turned into her kiss._

_TBC…_


	18. Helsinki P5

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P5

Notes: Helsinki seems like an awesome place to spend Christmas. All the places mentioned here are real, although I mashed together a few different Christmas markets and a few different restaurants. Also, St. Thomas Market closes on Dec. 22nd, so don't plan on actually going there on Christmas Eve

"You almost ready to go?" Annie called towards the closed bathroom.

"I am," Auggie replied as he emerged from the bathroom.

"You look really good," Annie observed as she took in the perfectly tailored black pants and the silvery gray sweater.

"Thank you," he said shyly smoothing his hands over the sweater.

"Is this…?" she reached for the sweater and touched it gently.

"The sweater you gave me for Christmas 2 years ago, yes. It turned up in my suitcase by coincidence," Auggie placed his hands over hers on his chest.

"I knew it would look good on you when I bought it, but I also thought it would feel good. Glad I get to test that theory now," she slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders.

"This is why our date to sex ratio is so far off, I really just want to take you back to bed," he confessed.

"I promise we will have fun and then we can come back and have sex. How many dates have you been on that you are guaranteed sex at the end?" she asked as she went to find her hat.

The smirk on Auggie's face made her laugh.

"Never mind, I don't want to know the answer to that question, get your coat," she pushed him towards the closet.

***555***

A cab dropped them at the base Aleksanterinkatu, the main shopping street in Helsinki and the scene of some of the best Christmas lights Annie had ever seen.

"This is the 64th year of the light display," Annie informed.

"That's dedication," Auggie agreed.

"They began in 1949 as people were sick of it getting dark at 2:30," she grinned.

Auggie took her arm as Annie decided on a side of the street, she picked one with the most store front windows and began a leisurely pace. The street s were crowded but not mobbed like Hong Kong and Annie was pleased when Auggie left his cane in his bag for the time being.

"It's not unbearably cold," Auggie observed.

"For someone who grew up in Illinois you have gotten soft Anderson," she tried to pinch him but his coat provided ample buffer.

"Where are we headed?" he ignored the jibe.

"Eventually Senate Square and the Saint Thomas Christmas Market, but for now I want to try to find Stockmann's, it has the best window displays."

"Like Brad Pitt in Calvin Klein underwear?" Auggie asked confused.

"No, like Christmas decorations," she laughed.

He just smiled and nodded.

"I think I can see it, there is one particular block that is a little more crowded than the others," she managed to look all around and still guide Auggie through the narrow sidewalks.

The windows of Stockmann's were clustered with people of all ages, the smaller ones at the front,t he taller in the back all with similar expressions of holiday cheer.

"So cute," Annie exclaimed.

"What are we looking at?" Auggie took the halt of their walking to curl an arm around Annie.

"Snowmen and polar bears, ice skating," she reported.

"I don't remember much about color, but that seems like a lot of white," he asked curiously.

"They are each wearing a brightly colored scarf, all different colors and the ice surfaces is swirled pink and purlple and blue, it is beautiful and sparkly," she said reverently.

"You are beautiful and sparkly," he whispered in her ear.

The next window included animatronic carolers with an old fashioned crackly-sounding Christmas music that was almost creepy in its coolness.

"Santa!" Annie exclaimed as she led Auggie to the next window.

"It is a village scene, snow topped roofs with Santa flying overhead, his sleigh is gorgeous," Annie took Auggie's hands in her own and tried to explain the size and dimension of the vehicle.

"There are white lights amongst the snow covered houses and the flicker like they are glinting in the moonlight," she described as they moved down.

"Ooooh glug!"

"In the window?" Auggie asked confused.

"No there is a vendor," she turned him away from the crowd and purchased two cups of the hot mulled wine.

Annie found a bench and they sipped the warm beverage quietly before moving on, fortified by the wine, to the Christmas Market.

"I smell livestock," Auggie mentioned.

"Yes, it appears they have a reindeer petting zoo," she smiled.

"Cool!"

They wandered among the stalls, artisans of every kind selling their wares and food. Annie paused at one particular stall and then moved on, bringing Auggie to the edge of the reindeer pen.

"You OK for a minute?" she asked as he moved his hands to the wooden railing in front of him.

"I don't know, how hungry do these reindeer look?" he grinned.

"They seem pretty tame, I'll be back in a minute," she kissed his cheek and walked back the way they had come.

Annie returned and pet a couple reindeer before leading Auggie passed a brass quintet playing Christmas Carols and a huge bonfire that they warmed themselves by.

"I can't remember the last time I did this many Christmassy things in one day," Auggie shook his head.

"The years I lived with Dani and the girls were my favorite for Christmas. That house was built for decorating and the girls were so cute about the whole thing."

"There were always too many people at my parents for any kind of reflection, it was just madness."

"Are you getting religious on me? Cause I can find us a church if you want," Annie smiled.

"No, never been particularly religious, but there is something about all the ritual of the season and the natural changes and the new year…." He trailed off with a laugh.

"How about some dinner?" she asked not wanting to push him.

***555***

Annie and Auggie arrived at the restaurant the concierge had recommended and Annie was slightly concerned as it was packed full, but trusting her elf at the hotel she asked for Ilja and presented the card. Soon a large blonde man appeared.

"Greetings!" he said in English.

"Merry Christmas," Annie said in Finnish.

That delighted him further if possible, he seemed a bit like old Mr. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol.

"You speak Finnish?" he asked in Finnish.

"A little," Annie blushed from the attention or the sudden warmth of the restaurant.

"Come in, come in," he went on to explain that they should have a drink at the bar while he prepared their table.

"Sounds good," Annie smiled as she led Auggie through the festive crowd.

"You are a couple, yes?" the man asked in Finnish.

"Yes," Annie nodded.

"Oh good, I made that assumption once and set up a very romantic table for a brother and sister," he laughed heartily.

Annie joined in the joke and found two barstools.

"I'll be back for you in a few minutes," Ilja promised.

Auggie debated between 3 different Finnish beers before settling on one and Annie got a traditional concoction of beetroot and birch leaves that tasted way better than it sounded.

Annie had no idea where he was planning to seat them as it appeared every table in the place was taken until something caught her eye. Two stories up, above the fray were 4 secluded alcoves that looked down over the room they were in. Sure enough she saw Ilja moving around one arranging glasses.

The restaurateur returned and escorted Annie and Auggie to an elevator in the back of the room and down the hall to their alcove.

"Christmas dinner at Juuri is usually a buffet, but I keep these spots for those looking for something a little more special and unique. I will personally serve you the traditional courses of a Finnish holiday meal," he said in English for Auggie's benefit.

"That sounds wonderful," Annie beamed.

"Enjoy your drinks, I will be back with the first course soon," he disappeared behind a red velvet curtain that encased them.

"Annie, how did you stumble upon this?" Auggie asked in awe.

"Luck, pure luck," she laughed.

Ilja returned with course after course of traditional foods like ham with potato and carrot casserole, balanced with modern takes on herring and decadent items like meatballs in a thick gravy. The plates were small, but filling and were all paired with perfect wine that seemed to flow endlessly. Annie was torn between delighted and terrified to see the bill.

Finally he appeared with a beautiful tray of desserts and some port wine.

"Here you have all the traditions of Finland, complete," he smiled proudly.

He pointed out the small fruit candies at the top, gum drops really but clearly handmade. There were small portions of traditional rice porridge sprinkled with cinnamon and tiny individual pies and cakes decorated so beautifully. The final tier was a wide array of gingerbread cookies in all different shapes and sizes.

"I brought a box for the cookies, most people can't make it all the way to the bottom," he winked.

Annie brushed the port glass against Auggie's fingers and held her own up in a toast.

"Merry Christmas," was all she could get out as her eyes filled with tears as the whole joyous evening washed over her.

"Merry Christmas," Auggie returned the sentiment, clinked his glass to hers and took a sip.

"Come here," he encouraged when she put her glass down.

She slid the couple of inches over on the banquet they were seated on and tucked under his arm, curled to his side.

"This was a world class date," he smiled against the crown of her head as he listened to the revelry all around them.

TBC…

Note: One more Christmas installment to come, but probably not until Monday. Enjoy the weekend!


	19. Helsinki P6

Globe Trotting – Helsinki P6

Note: So sorry for the delay on this, Christmas gobbled me up (and then I went to see Prince in concert). Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday!

Auggie paid the dinner bill after it was determined Annie didn't have much cash left and no credit cards in her current name. Ilja called them a cab and the two slightly tipsy revelers rolled through the streets of Helsinki.

"I'm sorry you had to pay for dinner," Annie sighed and tipped her head onto his shoulder.

"No problem, I don't even know the exchange rate, so I have no idea how much it was. It was worth it, whatever it was,' he kissed the crown of her head.

"And we have a whole box of gingerbread cookies," she shook the white cardboard box and the sound and smell of gingerbread infiltrated the backseat of the taxi.

"I guess I might be hungry again someday," Auggie laughed.

"I'll help you work up an appetite later," she whispered in his ear and nibbled on the lobe.

Auggie grinned and nuzzled Annie's lips, encouraging her exploration. Before she could get much bolder though they arrived at the hotel and Annie paid the cab driver and slipped out on the cold sidewalk. As she helped Auggie maneuver his head out of the small car she heard the bells of a nearby clock and glanced at her watch.

"Merry Christmas," she leaned up and kissed Auggie softly under a sky littered with stars.

"Merry Christmas," he replied and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her fully.

"It's amazing Auggie, a month ago I could not imagine feeling joy like this again. Thank you," she squeezed tighter.

"I am so grateful Annie, to have you here safe and secure, in my arms."

"How about we go inside where it is a little warmer and we can remove a few of these layers?" Annie suggested.

"As long as you end up back in my arms," Auggie teased.

***555***

As they scurried through the hotel lobby, Annie looked for the concierge that had helped her find the fantastic dinner spot, but he was long gone after a long day of working the holiday. As soon as they were safely in the elevator Annie returned to Auggie's arms, reaching out to press the button for their floor.

Annie opened the door and stopped short in the doorway, an audible gasp on her lips.

"What?" Auggie reached an arm out protectively out of instinct and Annie smiled at the gesture.

"It appears Santa stopped by our room," she giggled.

"Oh?" Auggie said remembering his call the night before.

"There's a little tree with lights on the desk and a beautifully wrapped gift under it, also some wine and a couple of glasses, a Pinot Noir, which will go very well without gingerbread later," she examined the treats.

"Merry Christmas," he reiterated and leaned down kissing the back of her neck.

She turned in his arms and kissed him deeply, threading her fingers into his hair, still cold from the outside, and moaned when his hands found their way under her sweater, enflaming her skin.

"Don't you want your present?" he asked as she walked him back towards the bed.

"I have my present," she answered as she kicked her boots off and pushed them out of the way.

"Am I supposed to ask you to unwrap me now?" he grinned.

"I'd prefer you unwrap yourself," she shrugged and hopped back on the bed, leaning on her elbows as Auggie blushed, his grin growing wider.

Annie removed her own clothes as she watched Auggie leisurely remove his sweater, unbutton his shirt and jeans and lay them neatly over a chair.

" You may not be trying to put on a show Anderson, but it is having the desired effect," Annie said, her voice thick with desire.

"Yeah?"

"Oh yeah, please come over here," she sat up on her knees and took his hand when he reached towards her.

The attraction was electric, the warm festive feelings of the day combined with the alcohol and the tender gentle touches they shared throughout magnified. Auggie found her cheek, cupped her chin and slid his fingers down the delicate column of her neck, pulling her close and kissing her with a low moan. Annie kissed him back as passionately and tugged him towards her as she began to lean back.

"Mmmm, no," he murmured and shifted their position so he leaned back, draping her body over his.

Annie shifted and reached, stroking a hand down his side and over his hip.

"No rush," he stilled her hand and kissed her again.

"Speak for yourself, I have wanted this since before we left," she trailed her kisses along his jaw.

"We have all night," he trailed his fingers along her arm and laced them with hers.

"It may be our last lazy day for a while," she agreed.

"Mmmm, back to work soon," he nodded and then sighed when Annie shifted on top of him.

"I want you so much," she said sincerely as she guided his hands to the clasp on her bra.

***555***

"That was beautiful," Annie cooed as she snuggled against Auggie's warm neck.

"I love you," he replied his lips seeking the cool skin of her forehead.

"Can I open my present now?" she asked with barely restrained curiosity.

"Of course," he laughed at her childlike glee.

She kissed him once more and hopped out of bed, grabbing his discarded button down and slipping it on. Before grabbing the present she opened the wine and delivered a glass to Auggie who had scooted up against the headboard and accepted it happily. She grabbed her bag and tossed it on bed as well as the beautifully wrapped gift from the desk and her own glass of wine.

"I have a present for you too," she mentioned.

"Really?" he smiled.

"Really, I snuck back and bought it when I left you with the hungry-looking reindeer."

"I knew that was a suspicious and dangerous abandonment," he feigned indignation.

"I saw this and it reminded me of you, of us," she said shyly and handed him a small packaged wrapped in tissue paper.

Auggie tore at the delicate paper and uncovered a piece of metal that he assumed to be a keychain.

"There was a silversmith at the market that did amazing work, can you tell what it is?"

Annie watched as Auggie's long fingers moved over the main piece of metal.

"A globe?" he asked, his eyes uncertain.

"It is, a beautiful silver globe, you and me against the world, remember?" she said her voice filled with hope.

"Anywhere you are on this planet Annie," he held up the keychain as a visual aid, "I will be there too. You and me against the world."

"We aren't going to have a home for a while, but wherever we are on this globe, we will make a home together," she covered his hands holding the symbol of their new life together.

"Open yours," Auggie smiled, his eyes suspiciously bright.

Annie delicately separated the beautiful foil paper, preserving the bow before lifting the top of the box to reveal a beautiful silver heart on a chain.

"Auggie," she said his name like a prayer.

"Turn it over," he instructed.

"It's never too late," she read the inscription.

"You said it was too late for heart to hearts Annie, but it is never too late. When you love someone, it is never too late to talk, to fight for each other," he explained the inscription.

"Merry Christmas Auggie," she swallowed the joyful tears and kissed him gently.

The End…of Helsinki

NOTE: Tune in to see where they end up on their first mission, I hope to have the first part up by New Year's Day!


	20. Geneina P1

Globe Trotting – Geneina P1

Author's Note: Happy 2014 everyone! Up until now "Dart on a Map" has been quite kind to our pair, but their luck ran out and their first mission is taking them to Geneina in the Darfur region of Sudan. Coincidently, 2 UN Peacekeepers were tragically killed there last week, so here is a ripped from the headlines mission (if things like that ever made the US headlines).

***555***

"Auggie you need to sit down, your pacing is making me nauseous," Annie looked up from the file she was reading.

"Sorry," he said quietly and found a chair on the private plane.

"What's wrong?" Annie abandoned the file and walked over to him.

Auggie looked up indignantly.

"Other than the obvious," Annie laughed at the look on his face.

"I am trying to come up with a way to kill Calder and keep my job," Auggie nearly growled.

"He said these missions were going to be risky," she tempered her tone and sank down next to the chair he was sitting in, clasping his forearm with her warm hand.

"I thought he'd let you get your feet under you before inserting you in a war torn area," Auggie was building up steam again and Annie could feel the anxiety tremble in his arm.

"It is a simple intelligence gathering mission," she tried to reason.

"In Darfur!"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"In a region where 2 UN Peacekeepers were just shot 2 days ago, bringing the total to what?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve UN Peacekeepers killed in five months, Annie. This war has raged for over a decade, over 300,000 people have died," Auggie tried to look her in the eye.

"I know Auggie, I know the stats and the situation, it is a tragedy of epic proportions and the UN is trying to help," Annie appealed to his sense of humanity.

"They don't seem to be helping much," he chuffed out a breath.

"Well it doesn't help when their troops are being shot, if I can get some photos and intel from the troubled spot at the fort in El Geneina maybe we can help the UN turn things around, or at least stop some of the bloodshed."

"Calder promised we would be together," Auggie changed his argument.

"The CIA has no facility in that region, you know that, you will be just over the border in Chad, less than 2 hours away and always in contact," she reached up and ran a finger along the shell of his ear.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked.

"I am," she assured him.

"You comfortable with your cover?"

"Yes, I did volunteer work like this before, it is why Calder gave me this assignment. The UNAMID position will allow me access to the fort in Geneina with absolutely no suspicion. There are hundreds of UN volunteers doing the exact same thing."

"We have to make sure your tech is as inconspicuous as possible," Auggie began chewing on his thumb nail.

"All I need is a comm device that you can record on your end and a small camera, I'll make sure they are inconspicuous," she stood from her crouch and dropped into his lap.

Auggie was surprised by her weight in his lap, but his arms instinctively wrapped around her and held her close. He kissed the side of her head and used his thumb to tunnel under her shirt and find the soft skin there.

"Excuse me folks," the first officer appeared in the cabin heading back to the galley.

"How goes the flying?" Annie asked with a smile, not extricating herself from Auggie's arms.

"Pretty smooth, we have a refueling stop in a couple hours and then on for another 8 so feel free to get some sleep," the pilot smiled and continued on in search of food.

"Might be our last night together for a while," Auggie sighed against Annie's ear.

"Are you propositioning me?" she giggled.

"I just want to hold you," he admitted.

Annie nodded and stood, offering Auggie her hand and then her elbow as she navigated the small cabin back to the sleeping cabin at the back of the plane. Quietly she unbuttoned his shirt and lifted his tee shirt over his head. She kissed his chest, just over his heart and stepped back to remove her own clothes, leaving Auggie to kick off his shoes and pants.

They slipped into the narrow bed, the sheets were cool and scratchy, but clean. Annie slid a leg between Auggie's, placed her head over his heart, one of her arms wrapped low around his waist. Their breathing and heart beats synced and soon they were both asleep.

***555***

When the CIA plane landed in Chad the local Station Chief, Alton James, boarded and presented Auggie with a case full of tech to play with.

"Thanks Alton," Auggie smiled as his fingers ghosted over circuit boards and ear pieces.

"My pleasure Auggie, it's good to see you," the older man patted Auggie on the back and indicated Annie should take a seat for her briefing.

"You know Auggie?" Annie said with question.

"We were stationed in Berlin together way back," Alton grinned.

"Way back? I was a child way back, don't try to make me as old as you," Auggie corrected.

"He barely needed to shave back then," Alton corrected and Auggie nodded his agreement.

"Small world," Annie shrugged.

"The Agency is a very small world Miss Walker."

"I've read the briefing materials," she changed the subject.

"Unfortunately the briefing materials do not begin to capture the reality of the Darfur experience Miss Walker. I am here to make sure you truly understand what you are walking in to," the station chief took a seat and began running through the atrocities of genocide.

***555***

"Try this," Auggie piped up as Annie continued reviewing details with Alton.

Annie took the tiny ear piece and molded it into her ear with ease. She then walked to the galley and squatted down in a corner.

"Hey there handsome," she whispered.

"Got you," Auggie called.

"Was I clear?" Annie asked with a grin.

"You sounded great. This is automatically captured digitally on my laptop so even if I am asleep everything you say or hear will be recorded."

"So you have me recorded saying you're handsome? Great, I'll never be able to retract it now," she smirked.

"It is official," he confirmed.

"Good thing it's true," she kissed his cheek.

"You two are adorable, we have work to do though," Alton interrupted.

"Sorry, here is the camera. Is it small enough to conceal on your body?" Auggie presented a device smaller than Annie's tiny IPod Shuffle.

"Yes," she laughed.

"It will only hold 36 frames so use it sparingly," he instructed as she tucked it into her bra.

"Officer Jenson will escort Auggie to the safe house and I will bring you to the convoy you will be joining. I can drop you about a mile from the site, you will have to walk in."

"Got it," Annie shouldered her backpack.

"Be safe," Auggie turned toward her, his eyes downcast.

"You too," she swallowed her fear at being separated from him for the first time in over a month.

"I'm going to a safe house," he smiled.

"I love you," she whispered as she kissed him despite Alton's presence.

"Love you too," he returned the kiss.

"OK, let's do this…." Annie squared her shoulders and helped Auggie disembark the plane.

TBC…


	21. Geneina P2

Globe Trotting – Geneina P2

Author's Note: I do not even begin to understand the horrors of Darfur.

Annie approached the UN convoy on foot, her back pack secure on her shoulders and Auggie securely in her ear.

"Hello!" she called to a tall man with asalt and pepper beard.

"Hi there, you must be Grace," the guy referenced a clipboard that had Annie's current alias on it.

"I am," she smiled and offered her hand.

"Tom Covington," he shook her hand.

"Grace Kendall, nice to meet you," Annie smiled against the hot glare of the African sun.

"Glad to have you on board, we are always happy to have some women on hand," Tom said as he loaded some palates in the back of a truck.

"Oh really?" Annie said with a laugh.

"Not like that. There are a lot of women and girls in need of assistance and they often won't accept help from men out of modesty. Besides, you're married right?"

"I am."

"Your husband is cool with this?"

"He's worried, but he knew this side of me when we got married, he knows how important UNAMID's work is," Annie said honestly.

***555***

Auggie listened to Annie make small talk with the other UN volunteers, smiled when she talked about her 'husband' and tried to get a call through to Langley.

"Auggie, man, is that you?" Eric Barber said excitedly on the other side of the planet.

"Hey Eric, Happy New Year, how you doing?"

"Good, real good. I heard about Annie, man that is a wild story, but we're so glad everything is OK."

"Yeah, she's doing well, on her first mission back and we might need some back up," Auggie said off-handedly.

"What kind of back up?"

"High in the sky back up, can you research satellite coverage for the coordinates I just emailed you? I hope we don't need it, but I want her covered if things go south, it isn't the easiest place to get out of," Auggie sighed.

"You can say that again," Barber agreed when he pulled up the coordinates.

"It's a simple watch and listen mission, but you know Annie's tendency towards the dramatic," Auggie rolled his eyes.

"Got you boss, I'll be on alert, just let me know if you need me."

"Thanks Barber," Auggie hung up slightly relieved that he had a back up plan if needed.

***555***

Annie found conditions in El Geneina both better and worse than she imagined. It is hard to wrap your head around what is happening in Darfur as so little of it is being covered in the news and many of the volunteers return shocked and silent.

There were refugee barracks, food and medical supply delivery and distribution centers and barracks for both volunteers and official peacekeeping staff.

"Women stay on this side," Tom pointed out the small low concrete building for female staff and a big tent that served as a bathhouse with latrines and showers.

"OK," Annie nodded.

"Take any bunk area that looks free and get settled, dinner is in 30 minutes. We could eat together and discuss your first assignment," Tom offered.

"Sounds good," Annie agreed.

She entered the barracks which was cool despite the outside heat, the stone and narrow windows keeping it dim and dry. She could make out about 30 bunks, 15 on each wall, and maybe half of them were occupied with blankets and a few personal touches. It seemed the women acknowledged the scarcity of their gender and took every other bunk to give one another some space, so Annie did the same going one bunk over from the nearest claimed bunk and placing her pack on the thin mattress.

She unpacked her few items of clothing and toiletries. She had brought one photo of herself and Auggie taken at the restaurant on Christmas Eve which she wedged between the headboard of the bed and the wall. She wanted to appear to be a regular old volunteer missing her husband and their life together.

"Greetings," a woman with a British accent entered the room, she was sweaty and dirty but had a genuine smile on her face.

"Hello," Annie smiled back.

"I'm Meg, welcome to El Geneina."

"Grace, nice to meet you."

"Where you from? How long you here and all that jazz?" Meg asked as she walked down a few bunks and flopped on her mattress.

"DC and just a week. I am a professor at Georgetown, have to get back for second semester," Annie relayed her cover which explained her short term assignment.

"Seems like a rough way to spend a vacation," Meg smiled wearily.

"I had a week in Barbados with my husband first. What brings you here?" Annie turned the inquiry around.

"I've been here for 3 months, my parents were killed in a car accident, I was devastated and need to get away," she relayed.

"I'm so sorry," Annie said her stomach dropping out from under her at that sense of loss.

Meg just nodded.

"I rode in with Tom Covington and am meeting him for dinner. Who else should I know?" Annie asked as she folded her clothes unnecessarily.

"Tom's a good guy, does 30 days here and 30 days at a hospital on the Southside of LA. He made a ton of money in private practice and is trying to pay it forward, you know? The military personnel is a little disconcerting, but they are trying to keep the peace. I assume you heard about the shooting?"

"Yeah, my husband freaked out a little, but he's former military himself, he settled down. I was already committed to coming when the 2 peacekeepers were killed, I didn't want to abandon my commitment. It is a little nerve wracking though," Annie sat on her bunk facing Meg.

"We volunteers don't hear much, the military staff keep to themselves, unless they need medical attention or are riding along on a supply run," Meg shrugged.

"Any advice for a newbie?"

"There is a fine line here between caring about people and getting too close. Know the limits of what you are able to do and don't expect to change the world in a week. It sounds harsh, but if you give one person comfort while you are here it will be worth it," Meg closed her eyes and Annie did the same.

***555***

Alton made it back to the safe house in Chad and assured Auggie Annie was in good shape when he let her.

"I've been listening in, she has already begun gathering intel. She managed to sweet talk her way onto a supply delivery tomorrow, one of the few ways to get close to the peacekeeper troops," Auggie took off the headphones and put the audio up live in the room.

"I'm glad things are going well for you Auggie," Alton said as he opened the fridge in search of water.

"Thanks."

"I was worried about you when you came back from Iraq, wasn't sure you would bounce back from that," he said sincerely.

"I almost didn't. Annie was a big part of getting me back in the game. She was really green, but so bright, needed guidance, but taught me a lot too," Auggie smiled.

"You two are clearly good for each other," Alton tapped a cold bottle against Auggie's hand and settled down to listen to the small talk coming through Annie's comm device.

TBC…


	22. Geneina P3

Globe Trotting – Geneina P3

"Cough if you can hear me and have a second to listen," Auggie murmured in her ear as she settled in her bunk the first night in Darfur.

Annie coughed delicately, loud enough for Auggie but not loud enough to draw any attention to herself.

"The peacekeepers that were killed were from Jordan and Senegal, the UN Secretary General released some more information today and the attack seems to be the result of random tribal attacks, but the Sudanese Government isn't doing anything. Any intel we can share with the UN will be greatly beneficial," Auggie related and Annie closed her eyes and listened to his voice.

"Also, I am very lonely without you in this bed," he changed the subject and she sighed loud enough for him to know she felt the same way.

"Do not hesitate to yell if you need help, I have an extraction team as close as I can get them. I will get you out of there as fast as humanly possible if needed. Get some rest. I love you," Auggie switched off the mic so she wouldn't have to listen to him snore all night, but left his earpiece in.

Annie would have been happy to listen to Auggie snore, the barracks were quiet, but there were troops outside talking in a variety of languages and insects loudly calling for their mates, Auggie's breath in her ear was wanted, she would have to find a way to tell him that for tomorrow night.

***555***

"Normally we do not take newbies on supply runs, but the village we are visiting has a pregnant woman who needs some assistance. It will help to have a woman along," Tom explained.

"No problem," Annie assured.

"Grace, leaving the compound is rough, you may see some things along the road that are not what you are used to," Tom tried tactfully to prepare Annie.

"I understand," Annie said honestly without tipping her hand that she had seen death up close already.

They loaded into the armored truck and set out. Annie sat in the back with 2 male volunteers and a peacekeeper whose uniform had the flag of Jordan stitched on it. Annie was trying to come up with an in when one fell in her lap.

"Amir, did you know the guys who were killed last week?" one of the male volunteers, named Nigel, asked.

"Yes, one of them was in my barracks," the young man looked down.

"Sorry man," the other volunteer said quietly.

"This is our duty, sometimes people die in service," Amir said rationally and Annie thought of Auggie and his men in Iraq.

"Do they know who did it?" Nigel asked.

"Not necessarily who, but they have an idea of the tribe that has infiltrated deepest. They got very close to the fort, closer than most of the gangs out there," Amir poked his gun at the window as they passed open country, refugees lining the road with hands out hoping for help.

"There are so many," Annie said absently watching the faces blur by as they rumbled along the rutted road.

"And that is why we are here and why we take the risk," Amir shrugged.

"Shouldn't the UN be doing more to keep you safe?" the other guy, whose name Annie hadn't figured out yet, piped up.

"They have a lot to do, this is one of many peacekeeping missions."

"It is one of the biggest though, the most dangerous," Nigel defended.

"We have good leadership with the General, his team, well…." Amir realized he was talking out of line and stopped quickly.

Annie mentally tucked away the knowledge that the General at El Geneina might need a better support team.

***555***

When the convoy reached the village the peacekeepers exited the vehicles first. They spoke with village leaders and secured the perimeter, as much as they could, Annie noticed the tactics. Once it was considered safe, or as safe as it could be, the volunteers exited the vehicle.

"Grace, Kevin!" Tom called and Annie uncovered the name of the other volunteer riding with her and Nigel.

The two jogged over and took the boxes of supplies Tom had for the medical unit in the village.

"Grace, the woman I was told to check on is named Kalani. We just want to confirm she is comfortable with the care she is receiving. We can send a female doctor here if need be, but we don't have many so we want to make sure she is truly in need and not just having trouble communicating with the staff here," Tom explained.

Annie introduced herself to the Croatian doctor at the medical tent and he pointed Kalani out to her. It appeared Kalani had a couple of children already which made Annie feel better, she should know if she is in distress.

Annie approached with a smile, a small bag of dehydrated apricots in her pocket for the children. Sudan is incredibly diverse linguistically. Annie knew there were dozens of regional dialects and variations of Arabic, but also that English was fairly widespread. She began in Arabic and hoped the woman spoke a little English.

"Hello, how are you?" Annie started.

Kalani smiled at the Arabic and answered with a clear strong voice.

"I am better today."

The two small children danced round Annie delighted with their new visitor, causing physical pain as Annie missed Chloe and Katia so vividly. She kept a smile on her face though and tookt he children's hands and skipped along to their little tune.

Kalnai looked on and smiled. Annie peppered questions into the dancing: "Are you dizzy?" "Are you eating and drinking enough?" "Is the doctor helping you?" "Do you need anything more?"

After working up a sweat dancing with the kids and conveying Kalani's answers to the Doctor and Tom, it was determined that she needed some additional hydration, but not more medical attention. Tom could leave his female doctors in the two trauma centers that were in place and Kalani would carry her baby fine with a few visits by female volunteers. Annie already had a tinge of sadness that she would probably not be back to see Kalani, but she would make sure Tom scheduled Meg or one of the others on a weekly basis.

***555***

While Annie tended to Kalani, Auggie was researchignt he General in charge of forces in El genuine. As Amir had hinted the general himself was highly decorated and seemingly above board, so Auggie pulled up the records of his staff and went to work looking for a possible problem.

Details were sketchy though and he piped up in Annie's ear.

"I need some names of the general's staff. There is no ORG chart around, I could research faster if I had names," he asked.

"Got it," Annie said quietly as she exited the medical tent into the bright sunlight.

"Tom!" the doctor called.

Tom, Kevinand Annie stopped in route back to the truck as Dr. Miac approached.

"Tom, you know we are grateful for everything you bring, but the supplies are a little light this time around, was there a problem with the main supply delivery?"

"No," Tom looked confused, "I checked those crates myself this morning before we left."

"Several courses of antibiotics are missing and some bandages, antiseptic and so forth, about 1/3 of the usual supply is short. It is enough to get us by for now, but definitely not enough to wait for the next scheduled visit."

"I will look into it as soon as we get back and try to move up your next delivery accordingly," Tom said with a look of concern on his face.

"Thanks," the doctor smiled and patted Tom on the shoulder before jogging back to his tent.

"Those crates were full when we loaded up this morning," Tom said to no one in particular.

Annie heard the confusion in his voice and so did Auggie.

TBC…


	23. Geneina P4

Globe Trotting – Geneina P4

When they made it back to the fort Annie took her shift in the mess tent. All volunteers had to serve a few meals, it wasn't good for her investigation, but necessary for her cover. Working over the food was even hotter than out in the sun, the steam trays creating a tropical feel that, combined with the general smell of food, was overwhelming, but Annie slogged through happy to feed the men and women that were working on this mission.

The up side to her mess duty was the ability to beg off after dinner and head to the showers. Some of the other volunteers were going to play cards, but Annie could legitimately claim the need for a longer shower after her trip off base and food duty.

She gathered her toiletries and took a circuitous route to the women's shower tent. Her route took her right by the building that housed the medical supplies. There were 2 UN guards on duty at the front, but she was able to make her way around the back of the building unnoticed.

She saw a soldier at the back, his uniform indicating he was a little higher up on the food chain. Auggie needed names and faces couldn't hurt, so Annie got the tiny camera out of her pocket and snapped a few frames. His face might be enough for Auggie with Hummingbird, but Annie decided she would try to get his name directly and in order to do that, she had to get herself caught.

"Don't panic," she whispered to Auggie in preparation.

"I love when you start a conversation that way," he sighed in her ear before he heard a loud gruff voice.

"Girl, what you doing here?"

"Oh hi," Annie smiled, "I seem to have turned myself around. I thought the women's shower was this way," she held up her towel as proof.

"It's not," he snarled but Annie kept walking towards him trying to read his uniform.

"I just got here yesterday, still getting used to where things are," Annie said innocently.

"Well, where you are is not where volunteers should be," he approached her trying to push her back towards where she came from.

This guy really did not want her around.

"I'm sorry. What is this place, so I remember?" Annie used her Amber Truesdale accent and tried to sound as innocent and wholesome as could be.

"Medical supply storage," the man, whose name was now visible to Annie, said with a sneer.

"You need guns to protect the medical supplies?" Annie blinked.

"Most valuable thing on the base," he chuffed a short laugh.

"Of course," Annie nodded.

"Now you want to go back out there and turn right, the women's showers are just a short way down," he was being nicer now that he had her out of eye line of the back entrance.

***555***

Annie entered the women's showers, which were quite a ways away from the other tents and scoured each stall to make sure she was alone.

"You there?" she asked quietly as she turned on a shower for cover noise.

"Yep," he was right in her ear.

"Major Banta and I am sending you a photo," she reported.

"On it."

"Why is a Major guarding the back door of a supply house?"

"Good question."

"Everyone here has been very friendly and open, that was the first whiff of suspicious I have had."

"Your instincts are pretty good Walker, I'll follow it down for you. Go ahead and take that shower," his voice dropped on shower.

"I'd rather be showering with you," she matched his tone.

"Yeah, this 200 miles apart is for the birds," Auggie sighed.

"I know, but I like this mission Auggie. These people need help, if we can help them I will sacrifice a few nights apart," she said as she pulled her shirt off over her head.

"Was that your shirt?" he replied missing her humanitarian declaration.

"Yes," she leaned over so he would hear the zipper of her cargo shorts as well.

"You're killing me here," he teased.

"I'm turning you off now so I can shower," she smiled.

"Turning me off…not exactly," he smirked.

Annie removed the comm from her ear and secured it in a tiny pocket of her shorts before stepping under the lukewarm shower.

TBC…


	24. Geneina P5

Globe Trotting – Geneina P5

Note: While this section of the story began with an actual news story about 2 UN Peacekeepers being shot in Geneina I hope everyone realizes the rest is fiction. I am not an expert on Darfur, only know what I can read online, and as of the latest articles the UN has no real idea of what happened to the 2 men shot on Dec. 29th.

***555***

Two days later and Auggie was still digging in to Major Banta's background. He was frustrated with the lack of any solid lead, on paper this guy seemed as clean as could be.

"Auggie," he heard Annie whisper urgently in his ear.

"Yes."

"There's been another shooting," she spoke quickly but clearly.

"Are you OK?" his mind raced to a hospital room, the smell of antiseptic and the whine of a heart monitor gone flat.

"I'm fine," she assured him.

"Was it another soldier?" Auggie asked.

"Yes, a guard I saw on the medical supply building. His body was dragged to a spot near the perimeter of the fort, but he was definitely one of the guys I saw on the supply building duty before. Could be a coincidence, but I doubt it. Also, Major Banta's uniform patches are from Chad, but his accent seems off to me, should have noticed that the other day but I couldn't place it," Annie reported.

"OK, lay low and stay safe, I will let you know as soon as I have something. Stay safe Annie, I love you," Auggie whispered the end even though he had no reason to, afraid saying it too loud would be a curse.

***555***

Annie's main duty that day was in the food supply building. She was filling boxes and crates with food to be shipped out to the villages the next day. The work was monotonous and the crew quieter than normal after the latest shooting, but Annie had faith that Auggie was doing his job and tracking down the intel.

She was lugging sacks of rice when she heard her name.

"Grace, need some water?" Meg approached with a canteen.

Annie dropped the last of the bags in a crate and wiped the sweat off her brow.

"Sure, thanks," she smiled and took the proffered water.

"I think we've earned a break," Meg handed over the canteen and produced 2 plums from her pocket.

Annie took a plum and hoped up on one of the filled and sealed crates as Meg joined her.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Meg asked.

"Why not?" Annie grinned as she thought about all the personal questions she shouldn't answer.

"Is your husband blind?"

If Annie could have guessed 500 times that would not have been the question she expected.

"He is," Annie said hesitantly.

"I saw the picture you have by your bed and, well, my dad is blind," Meg took a sip of water.

Annie smiled and nodded, Auggie doesn't look particularly blind in the photo, but if you are familiar with the lack of focus in a blind person's eyes it might jump out at you.

"Has he been blind since birth?" Annie asked.

"Yes," Meg nodded.

"Matt was injured in Iraq," Annie had to stop herself from using Auggie's real name.

"Did you two meet before he was injured?"

"After."

"So he has never seen you?"

"Nope. And your father has never seen you?"

"Nope. He's a great dad though, if, you know, you are thinking about having kids, don't let Matt's blindness be a deterrent. If you are even considering kids, man that was presumptuous of me," Meg scoffed.

"There would be a few other reasons we would not consider having kids before we got to Matt's blindness," Annie laughed and took another drink of water before hoping off the crate.

"Also," Meg hopped down too," I noticed he was blind after I noticed he was hot."

"Me too," Annie smiled and went back to work.

***555***

"Calder Michaels," Calder answered the phone.

"If the UN can wrap this up on their own without blowing Annie's cover can she stay and finish her week's volunteer commitment?"

"Hello Auggie, yes I'm fine, thanks for asking…" Calder said with his normal level of snark.

"Sorry, hello, how are you?" Auggie went through the polite litany.

"I'm a little tired actually," Calder took advantage.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Can I give the UN clearance to act without Annie?"

"Yes, if she wants to maintain cover that's fine, she is scheduled to finish up there in 3 days. Your next mission is a week off at least, weather issues," he said cryptically.

"Will we be in the same country as one another for the next one?" Auggie asked as he sent an email to his contact at the UN sanctioning the op.

"Awww, lonely Augs?"

"We agreed tothis arrangement so we would be closer together, not in different countries."

"Don't worry, you'll be practically on top of each other for the next mission. I'll have details for you in 24 hours."

"Thanks Calder and thanks from Annie on giving her the option to serve out her week, I think that is the decision she'll make."

"She's a bleeding heart, it's in her file," Calder laughed.

***555***

"We've got it," Auggie said in her ear while she was eating dinner that night.

Annie tried to listen to Auggie and make small talk with her dinner partners.

"Major Banta is actually Tahir Menulu, he was born in Sudan but left as a child and was raised in Chad, your clue about his accent being strange sent me down a different path. As you can imagine there are not a lot of records of refugees from 35 years ago, but ironically he was part of a UN Youth program and I found records with photos and Barber ran some comparisons to the pics you sent. Tahir has a brother who was not so lucky…"

The pieces fell into place for Annie quickly. Tahir's brother ran one of the tribal gangs, his brother was pilfering medical supplies for him from various UN forts. Sometimes the supplies were obtained easily sometimes a guard wandered in and got shot for his trouble.

"The UN does not want a riot, they are going to send in a team to remove Tahir tonight. If you want to be in on the raid excuse yourself now and find a place to talk. If you want to keep your cover that is fine just continue your dinner and we can chat later. They don't need you to take him down Annie, if you want to stay and finish your week that is absolutely OK with me and Calder," Auggie offered.

Conversation at dinner had shifted to spouses back home, so it was not a change of topic for Annie to answer both her dinner companions and Auggie at the same time.

"My husband is the best person I know," she smiled and kept her seat at the table.

The End… of Geneina

Tune in next week to see where Annie and Auggie end up next!


	25. Tokelau

Globe Trotting – Tokelau P1

Author notes: Tokelau is a tiny island in the South Pacific, a territory of New Zealand with a population of just over 1400, the most interesting thing I learned about it is that it has (according to the CIA) the smallest economy of any country in the world. Also, it has 150 species of insects, but more on that later….

***555***

"We were only apart for a weeeeeeekk," Annie squeaked the last word out as Auggie moved his mouth over her knee to the tender flesh behind it.

"I forgot what the combination of missing you and worrying about you did to me," he confessed as he moved his way up her body and found her lips.

"When Calder told you we were going to be on top of each other for this mission I don't think this is what he had in mind," Annie teased as she ran her fingers through Auggie's damp curls.

"Would you rather be on top?" Auggie grinned and flipped their position.

Annie shrieked and reached out for the edge of the narrow bed.

"Careful buddy, we are 4 feet off the floor," she giggled as she settled her body on top of his and resumed the reunion he had begun.

"I hope I remember that if I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night," Auggie groaned from the idea of falling off the bed or Annie's teeth against his collar bone.

"You'll only forget once," she teased.

"At least there isn't much to map in this tiny little hut. I'm more concerned about the bugs," he shivered again either from the insects or the way Annie's nails were trailing up his side.

"I read the brief, 150 types of insects on an island with 1400 people, that is 1 insect species per 9.3 people," Annie was able to do math despite Auggie's tongue finding its way into her ear.

"And it is the rainy season so those bugs are going to be looking for a place to stay," Auggie joked as he shifted under her trying to encourage her a bit further along in his seduction.

"And we aren't going to have much room in this inn with Barber joining us later today. Is this a subtle hint?" she squirmed back and laughed when he moaned and tossed his head back against the thin pillow.

"Now please," he smiled.

"Thought you'd never ask," she smiled back as she joined their bodies together.

"For the record," she said as she moved slowly, watching his every reaction, "I missed you too while I was in Darfur."

He smiled brighter and slid his hands up her slick back, pulling her down to kiss her thoroughly.

***555***

"Why am I even here?" Annie asked later as she dozed against Auggie's chest.

"We're a team?" he said with question.

"We are, but I am not going to be much help," she leaned up on her folded hands and looked at his relaxed features in detail.

"If Barber and I actually get anything off the satellite you can help us analyze it," he shrugged not willing to question why they were together.

"Once you translate it from geek speak, maybe," she traced a fingertip along one of his eyebrows and followed it as it arched.

"Who are you calling a geek?" he trapped her body against him with his legs.

"Barber?" she squeaked unconvincingly.

"Nice try, speaking of, what time is it?"

"Almost 4:00, have we been in bed for 5 hours?" Annie's own eyebrows raised as she realized they had done nothing to set up the hut since they arrived at 11:00 that morning except putting sheets on the bed so they could use it.

"It appears so, Barber will be here in less than an hour, we better get up," he said sadly.

"I'm a little nervous," Annie admitted as she climbed down the bunk's ladder.

"Why? It's a tech mission, satellite intercept, no bad guys that we know of," Auggie went through all the reasons she should not be scared as she navigated the bunk himself.

"I'm not nervous about the mission, I am nervous about seeing Barber. You've talked to him, but I haven't since everything came out about Henry. I haven't talked to him since before I died," Annie said quietly.

"Ahhh, he's over that," Auggie scoffed and found her standing in the small room between the two bunk beds.

"You think?" Annie said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah, I think he would be much more upset to walk in here and find me naked, Wanna help me find my clothes?"

***555***

Auggie had the equipment pretty much set up when Barber arrived. Annie laughed as he entered the cabin, a monsoon like rain falling behind him, his hair plastered to his head.

"You hear mission to the South Pacific and you think drinks with umbrellas not bring an umbrella," he sighed by way of greeting.

"Welcome to paradise Barber, watch out for the 150 species of insects," Auggie grinned.

"I'll get you a towel," Annie offered giving herself a purpose and something to keep her occupied as she worried about being around someone other than Auggie or strangers.

Annie returned to the room and offered the thin blue towel to Barber who smiled shyly at her, he was clearly as uncomfortable as she was. Auggie, perceptive as always, jumped in.

"Hug it out you guys, you are both happy to see each other, get over the weirdness there isn't enough room for it in this hut," he said good-naturedly.

"I can't believe you're here," Barber said honestly.

"I'm sorry for having to keep you in the dark Eric," Annie started but he shook his head.

"It's OK Annie, I get it. I am just really glad you are OK," he smiled.

Annie had such a hard time forgiving herself for everything that had happened over the past year it was so refreshing to be forgiven like this by someone else.

"Thanks," was all she could manage before she threw herself into Eric Barber's arms.

TBC…


	26. Tokelau P2

Globe Trotting – Tokelau P2

Note: Thanks, as always, for the kind reviews. I am glad people are enjoying the story!

***555***

Once Barber and Annie were done hugging it out the mission was on. Calder had assured that the weather would clear by morning and Auggie and Barber would be able to intercept the satellite in question.

"Why is this satellite such a big deal?" Annie asked.

"We're not actually sure that it is, but it keeps passing over this island and no one can figure out why. It is a major source of confusion at NASA. They were going to send a team and the Agency got a whiff and figured it should be us in case it is a big deal," Barber explained.

"So we could be intercepting baseball scores or something?"

"Technically yes," Auggie said.

"But you don't think so?" Annie sensed he had his own ideas.

"Tokelau has the lowest GDP of any country in the world, why pass by it at all?" Auggie began.

"To get somewhere else," Annie reasoned.

"True, satellites don't jump around to the hot spots, they orbit, but there is nothing for hundreds of miles around, there are much more effective orbits to use. This one is unique and we need to find out why. Also, we cannot determine the origin of this satellite," Auggie continued.

"Do you think it's a UFO?" Annie said with glee.

"No Mulder, calm down, we think it is a spy satellite," Auggie teased.

"Oh," Annie pouted.

"I missed this," Barber rocked back on his heels with a smile on his face.

"What?" Annie asked.

"You two, bantering like the old days, it feels so 2011," Barber grinned wider.

"The point is, if it is a spy satellite, what in the world is it looking for in the middle of the South Pacific?" Auggie glared at Barber good-naturedly.

"The sunken remains of a UFO, of course," Annie stated emphatically.

***555***

The team assembled as much of the equipment as they could and Annie made a simple supper that benefited from the wine Barber brought with him.

"Joan's baby is super cute," Barber reported.

"I hope we can do a video chat with her and the baby when we are somewhere more secure," Auggie noted.

"Well, until you get video," Barber produced a small photo of Joan and Arthur and baby, "they sent this."

"So sweet," Annie gushed.

"Arthur still has a sling on, but he looks good. Joan looks beautiful and the baby is, as most babies are at this point, mostly a pile of blankets, but he has a sweet little face. His eyes are open and his mouth is so tiny," Annie described for Auggie as she snuggled into him and placed his fingers on the picture.

"Joan officially comes back next week," Barber reported.

"Really?" Annie asked.

"Two months is ridiculously short for maternity leave, but that's what she has and with the agency in such flux she doesn't want to push it.

"Two months?" Annie said confused.

"McKenzie will be 2 months old in a week," Barber reported and watched as Annie's face displayed several different emotions at once.

She turned to face Auggie, he was looking sort of halfway between Annie and Barber, so Annie turned his face towards hers.

"It's been two months?" she asked incredulously.

"Eight weeks the world has been a safer place, thanks to you," he tried putting it in perspective and it must have worked because she kissed him then.

The kiss was soft at first, but Auggie tilted his jaw to let her lips fall perfectly against his and escalated it quickly. Just when Barber thought they might start disrobing in front of him Annie stopped, but not because she remembered they weren't alone.

"Thank you," she said, her voice ragged.

"For a kiss?" Auggie queried.

"For the past 8 weeks, for saving me, for keeping Annie Walker alive," her voice was so raw.

Auggie couldn't respond he just nodded and buried his face in her hair. Barber wished they had just had sex in front of him, it would have been less intimate than what he was watching. He was afraid to move, as if he might wake them like sleepwalkers, but he couldn't stay there watching the communion of their souls like this, so he began clearing the dishes from dinner.

The hut had a small kitchenette at the back, not separated from the main room at all, but it was far enough away that he could not understand what they were whispering to one another. Barber might have been a spy by trade, but he didn't want to eavesdrop on his friends, so he did the dishes quietly and then slipped into the bathroom and washed up.

When he emerged from the bathroom Auggie was at the computer and Annie was sitting on their bunk swinging her legs and flipping through a magazine.

"Should we flip for who is going to climb the tree and mount the satellite receiver tomorrow?" Barber said to break the tension.

***555***

"Auggie, please tell me that is your hand," Annie mumbled against his chest as she awoke the next morning.

"Huh?" he mumbled back.

"On my shoulder, please tell me that is your hand on my shoulder," her body tensed against him and her voice got panicky.

"What are you talking about?" he asked sleepily as he took his index finger from her shoulder and investigated the hair behind her ear.

Annie jumped off of him and launched herself off the bunk in a vault that would have made the Olympic team jealous and began to flail and jump. Barber walked into the cabin, this time followed by sunshine and warm air to find Annie hopping around in a tee shirt and not much else.

"What's going on?" he asked concerned.

"Is there a spider on me?" she stopped jumping but could not control he shudders that wracked her body.

"Not big enough for me to see," Barber assured her.

"Annie…." Auggie drew out her name from the bed.

"It WAS you?" she turned on him.

"If there are spiders this big in the cabin we are in trouble," he said holding up his large hand and wiggling his fingers.

"Seriously blind man, you are going to play practical jokes on me, knowing how much I really detest the idea of a spider crawling on me, you are going to start something," she said as she stalked back to the bunk and scaled the ladder.

She crawled over the bunk and held herself in plank form over his body, her face right up against his, nose to nose.

"You're going to mess with me on this?" she finished with a laugh.

"Usually you like my fingers…" Auggie began and Barber interrupted before he knew more than he wanted to know.

"OK, prank time is over, you two need to get up and put a few more items of clothing on and help me mount this receiver," Barber attempted to get them back on track.

"OOOh, I'll climb the tree," Annie jumped from the bunk again and grabbed her clothes.

"What if there are spiders up there?" Auggie teased.

"I'm fine when I know they are there, that is the problem with spiders, they sneak up on you," she reasoned.

"I haven't climbed a tree since I was 10, so if she wants to do it I am not fighting with her," Barber ended the debate.

TBC…


	27. Tokelau P3

Globe Trotting – Tokelau P3

"This is so small," Annie noted as she tucked the satellite receptor into her shorts pocket.

"21st century, Baby," Auggie grinned.

"CIA technology doesn't hurt," Barber added.

"OK, you guys can self-congratulate later. Barber, you'll spot me?" Annie approached the coconut tree.

"Climbing a coconut tree, seems a little Gilligan's Island to me," Barber joked as he watched Annie pull herself up the trunk.

"Am I Ginger or Mary-Ann?" Annie asked as she hefted herself higher.

"Ginger!" "Mary-Ann!" Barber and Auggie responded simultaneously.

"You two fight that out, I'm going to do some work here."

"Ginger was vapid and conceited," Auggie argued.

"But she was hot," Barber countered.

"Mary Ann was much hotter and since I'm the Professor she's Mary Ann," Auggie rationed.

"You're the Professor?" Barber queried.

"Yup," Auggie nodded.

"Than who am I?"

"You, my little buddy, are Gilligan," Auggie patted him on the shoulder and headed towards the tree.

"Is this high enough?" Annie shouted down.

"Yes, yikes," Barber replied.

"What? Why yikes?" Auggie asked.

"She's really high, she moves fast," Barber explained.

"Annie," Auggie called in his deep Captain voice.

"I'm fine August, don't worry," she shouted down.

Annie took the receiver from her pocket and using the Velcro strap Auggie had attached she wrapped it around the tree at one of its least leafy spots. Once she was sure it was secure she began shimmying back down the smooth bark of the tree. Within minutes she was close enough to the ground to jump the last bit, landing with a soft "Ooof!"

"You OK?" Auggie reached for her.

"Fine," she assured him squeezing his hands.

"Excellent, let's go see if we can intercept some secrets," Barber whispered and headed back to the hut.

***555***

For hours the three of them sat in the hut, Barber and Auggie pouring over frequencies and bandwidth and lots of things Annie neither understood nor particularly cared about. Finally, bored, Annie decided to go for a run.

"I'll be back in an hour," she kissed the side of Auggie's head as she left.

"Be careful," he said out of habit and she kissed him again for caring.

"So, you guys seem good," Barber mentioned as he snacked on a protein bar.

"We're pretty good," Auggie smiled as he continued typing.

"Seems better than…" Barber began but Auggie put up a hand to silence him.

"I think I have something kind of odd here," Auggie said.

"Really?" Barber asked.

"Remember how the briefing memo said Tokelau has the lowest GDP of any country on earth?"

"Yeah."

"I am finding wire transfers originating on this island in the hundreds of thousands of dollars," Auggie looked up confused.

"Is Tokelau the new Caymans?" Barber asked.

"Maybe, but it is really out of the way for off shore accounts, I am thinking they are trafficking something here, guns or drugs maybe," Auggie shared his screen with Barber as the two started digging deeper on the records.

***555***

Annie returned to the hut an hour later sweaty, but exhilarated from her run.

"Here she is now," Auggie said as he heard her enter.

"Walker, hey," Calder called from the computer screen.

"Hey Calder," she headed to the kitchenette for some water.

"Looks like you might have something to do on this mission after all," Auggie said his fingers flying over a keyboard.

"Oh?" she said with interest.

"The guys have uncovered large cash transfers originating on the island, we have isolated the location and the satellite imagery shows us some pretty heavily armed goons around," Calder explained.

"You got all this in an hour while I was out running?" Annie arched an eyebrow.

"I knew there was something up with this satellite, they need it for the monetary transfers and that means whoever is trafficking is important enough to re-route a satellite," Barber piped up.

"What do you need me to do?" Annie asked.

"We think we found a back door into this building they are surrounding, we don't expect you to take them all out, but if you could just get eyes on what they have in there or maybe help identify what country we are dealing with we can mobilize a larger team," Auggie explained.

"How far away is the building?" Annie asked as she stripped off her tee shirt despite Barber's presence and grabbed a clean dry long sleeve tee for the mission.

"Four kilometers, I've already set the coordinates on this for you," Auggie produced a phone.

"OK, I'm on it," she said to Calder as she loaded her weapon.

"Thanks Walker, call me back with details guys," and with that Calder was gone.

"You are just getting eyes on this Walker, there are at least 4 guys with guns down there, we can't get thermals at the moment so we are only going on what we can see and by we I mean Barber" Auggie smiled.

"I know," she assured him with a squeeze of his shoulder.

"From this direction we think we can talk you in through a window on the south side," Barber explained.

"When you reach the coordinates on the phone stop and we will guide you from there," Auggie continued.

"OK," Annie shook out her arms and tried to swallow the adrenaline of a mission.

Once she was sure she was ready she leaned down and kissed Auggie , his hands coming up and framing her face, holding her there for a minute. She ended the kiss but slid her lips to his ear.

"I love you," she whispered and he just nodded against her cheek.

"Good luck Annie," Barber smiled as she stepped away from Auggie and towards the door.

"Thanks," she waved and was gone.

***555***

The walk was easy and Annie moved quickly for the first 3 kilometers or so, then she began keeping an eye and ear out for others and kept her footfalls as quiet as possible. When the phone buzzed in her hand she knew she was at the target.

"I'm here," she whispered into the phone.

"Hello Miss Walker," Auggie's voice smooth and steady in her ear.

Barber and Auggie gave instructions that had Annie approaching the building on her stomach, the ground was thick and damp with vegetation and the bugs were everywhere, but she made it to the back side of the building without being seen. She pulled herself up and through a small window and landed softly on the other side.

"Uh guys?" she whispered.

"Yeah," they both responded.

"We have a problem."

"You OK?" Auggie said his breathing speeding up a bit.

"I'm fine, but their merchandise isn't drugs or guns."

"What is it?" Auggie asked.

"It's women…"

TBC….


	28. Tokelau P4

Globe Trotting – Tokelau P4

Notes: In a weird coincidence the man who played the Professor on Gilligan's Island died yesterday at the age of 89. Also, I am not making Tokelau sound very good and while I did not find any references to human trafficking when researching this destination, the stats on the GDP and the bugs are from my research.

***555***

"Annie could you repeat that?" Auggie said as his face registered alarm to Barber.

"This room is full of women, girls really Auggie, most of them are unconscious," Annie moved quietly through the room indicating to the few that were awake that they should be quiet and trying to smile at them reassuringly.

"How many?"

"Thirty, maybe forty," she reported.

"Holy hell," Auggie sighed on the other end.

"I'm not leaving them here," Annie indicated a change to her initial objective of a simple report.

"Yeah, lay low, stay quiet and see if any of them need immediate medical attention, I'll notify Calder," Auggie instructed and disconnected their call.

Annie moved her weapon from her back waistband to the front, pocketed her phone and rolled up her sleeves, it was time to get to work. She approached the group of girls and smiled, putting her finger to her lips in the universal sign for 'no talking'.

The couple of girls that were conscious cowered together, but didn't run or scream to alert the bad guys outside. Annie took the pulses of those that were unconscious and was relieved to find steady albeit slow pulses on all of them.

"I'm going to help you," Annie whispered.

***555***

"How did we not know there were people in there?" Calder asked.

"No thermals on this satellite, we only had visuals," Auggie detailed, "I really did not imagine we were walking into a human trafficking circle, did you?"

"No, I thought we were looking at drugs, I am prepared for drugs. How do we get 30 or 40 girls out of a building with just Annie?"

"We need to think of something, because she isn't going to leave them there," Auggie repeated Annie's edict.

"Yeah, of course," Calder knew they had to come up with a solution.

"She can stay low, out-of-site, but we have no idea what the timetable is on moving them. Based on the wire transfers the deals have been made, with the weather clear there could be boats or choppers enroute to get them any time," Auggie reasoned.

"How many hostiles?" Calder asked.

"Four that we can see within 5 kilometers of the building," Barber said.

"What do you have for supplies and weaponry…." Calder started mapping out an idea.

***555***

"Do the men come in here a lot?" Annie asked and made hand gestures to help with the girl's limited English.

She shook her head no which was a relief.

"They brought food this morning," she said.

"Do they give you medicine to sleep?" Annie pointed to the unconscious.

"Yes, needle," she said quietly in response.

"Do they hurt you?" Annie asked her final and most dreaded question.

The girl looked so sad, there were no physical signs of injury but Annie had an idea what they were doing to these girls and what they were intended for as she nodded.

"It's OK, we'll get you out of here. I need to hide though in case the men come in," Annie moved to the back of the room and took a position behind an overturned table and waited for Auggie to call.

She was sick at what she had uncovered, human trafficking was a well know horror and she had read and seen plenty of reports, but this was happening right in front of her. Her phone buzzed and she reached for it quickly.

"Please tell me there is a plan?"

"There is a plan, we are already enroute to you," Auggie said as she heard the sound of wind around him.

"There are guys with guns out front," Annie reminded him.

"We are guys with guns too," Auggie shrugged.

"You know I think you are amazing, but Barber gave you a gun?"

"Yep, and I am actually going to fire it too," Auggie smiled.

"While I am standing behind him," Barber clarified.

"Tokelau does not have much in the way of law enforcement, an island of 1400 doesn't need much of a police force, but we do have a couple of local officers meeting us, we are setting a trap. I am going to fire randomly in the jungle and lure your watchdogs away, hopefully enough so you can secure the site. Calder has New Zeeland military forces en route to help us sort out the girls and get them home," Auggie laid out the plan.

"You guys work fast. I'll keep an eye and ear out for the action to begin. Please be careful," she said with concern.

"I'll be fine, you watch your six and we'll get the hell off this island soon," he promised.

TBC…


	29. Tokelau P5

Globe Trotting – Tokelau P5

Annie had to compartmentalize her fear over Auggie marching into battle in order to protect these girls and herself. She had executed a few of Auggie's crazy plans over the years, she had to trust he could do the same. She made her way back to the girls and spoke to those that were awake.

"Soon there will be a lot of noise, a boom and guns (she held hers up as an illustration). You need to stay here or go that way (pointing to the back of the room). Help one another," Annie smiled when the girls nodded in understanding.

"We are going to get you out of here," Annie reiterated her earlier promise.

***555***

"Auggie, are you sure about this?" Barber asked casually.

"I am," Auggie replied succinctly.

"Oh, OK," Barber said unconvinced.

"Barber, listen, there is not much I can do in the field these days, but I can certainly fire a gun and cause a distraction. I am trusting you to get me out of the line of fire if there is a problem, do you trust me?"

"Yes," Barber said more convinced once he heard Auggie understood the danger he was putting himself in.

"OK, then we are good."

"I think I see our help," Barber said as he noticed 3 uniformed police.

***555***

Annie was crouched by the front windows listening intently. She could hear the men outside chatting in a language she didn't understand, but they sounded like they were just chatting about sports or the weather by their tone of voice and occasional laughter.

Sure enough it was not long before she heard distant gun fire and she really hoped that was Auggie. The men frantically gathered their weapons and, as she watched out the window, three of the four men guarding the building ran into the woods.

Left with only one man and the element of surprise Annie waited by the front door of the building. Within minutes the man entered gun first and Annie pushed her gun into the middle of his large back.

"Drop the gun!" Annie yelled in English, assuming her meaning was clear.

The man did as he was told and tossed his semi-automatic a good distance away and raised his hands. Annie moved him towards a chair where she had readied some ropes, but before she could subdue him he turned on her quickly, kicking her gun from her hand.

The ensuing combat was tough, Annie defensively blocking blows more than getting any shots in herself. She took a few good shots to her ribs, but she was quick and nimble and she made a few moves that allowed her to avoid worse.

Finally, the man leapt at her, knocking her to the ground, she turned and scrabbled at the ground as he pulled at her legs. She stretched and reached her weapon, worried about her position in the room and not wanting to injure any of the girls and hoping to keep the man alive for interrogation, Annie aimed for his significant shoulder and pulled the trigger.

He let go of her and scurried away in pain. Annie regained the upper hand and got him into the chair, securing his hands and feet and tearing off a piece of her own tee shirt to staunch the bleeding of his shoulder. The wound location reminded her instantly of Auggie on their trip to Colombia and her mind went to the other altercation going on nearby.

***555***

Auggie fired the semi-automatic repeatedly into the trunk of a big old tree. Barber was duly impressed with Auggie's steady arm and seeming aim. Sure enough the gunfire brought the sound of footsteps through the woods and Auggie took position behind a tree with Barber while the local law enforcement hid in waiting.

It was quick, the local cops doing a great job of picking off the 3 attackers. One was dead, but the other 2 were alive and able to talk which would help determine the scope of the situation at hand.

It turned out the guards were local themselves, although the human trafficking ring was run by Thailand. They were able to confirm that a boat was arriving within 2 hours to collect the women. Auggie related all the details to Calder who had a Navy vessel on its way already.

"Go get Walker," Calder said knowing Auggie was anxious to secure Annie.

Annie answered the phone on the first ring.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Yes, you?" Auggie sighed at the sound of her voice.

"Yes, I have one hostile secured are we clear?"

"Yes, we have 2 secure and one KIA. The boat for the women is 2 hours out and will be intercepted by the US Navy. We are on our way to you," Auggie reported.

"Excellent," Annie smiled and hung up running to the girls to begin untying them.

Since there was no chance of another guard stumbling in she felt it safe to untie the girls, get them up and moving if they could and try to bring around the ones that were still unconscious.

***555***

"Annie!" she heard his voice strong and clear.

Annie emerged from the dim building into the sunshine and saw the grin on Auggie's face as he held Barber's arm, mission accomplished.

"Good work guys," Annie smiled as she approached and took Auggie's hand from Barber's elbow.

"You too Walker," Auggie grinned as he slid his hands to her sides and felt her wince.

"You hurt?" he asked, his eyebrows scrunched together in concern.

"Just a few bumps and bruises," she assured but turned her head as he went to kiss her, "and maybe a split lip," she admitted.

"Do you need a medic?" he asked, his voice even but his eyes bright.

"No, nothing is broken, no signs of internal bleeding. A little icy hot and a chance to wash up and I should be fine," she assured and kissed his cheek gently. "You?"

"Not a scratch," he smirked.

"Good," she smiled as she examined him as closely as she could and confirmed he was telling the truth.

***555***

Once the military arrived things moved quickly, the women were loaded on to jeeps to be transported to the ship and their information collected and entered into a database and cross checked against missing persons records all over the South Pacific.

A helicopter took Annie, Auggie and Barber to the nearest airfield where Calder had a CIA jet waiting. The three agents were now enroute to Honolulu where they would part company, Barber back to DC and Annie and Auggie off to their next destination.

Barber was sleeping soundly in a reclining chair in the main cabin, Annie took Auggie by the hand and led him back to the sleeping cabin.

"Lay down with me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," Auggie agreed concerned by her quiet.

He got into the bed first, put his back to the wall and allowed Annie to arrange herself in the most comfortable way possible for her injuries.

"You OK?" he asked as he brushed her hair off her forehead and kissed her there.

"Yeah."

Auggie didn't push, if Annie wanted to talk about the case he had to trust that she would. Finally just as he thought she had fallen asleep she spoke.

"As a woman you get used to being appraised," she began, "even in the 21st century where most women are not sold into marriage any more it still feels like women are assessed as merchandise, commercial property. I often consider myself lucky that I have always had control of my life, of my education, my career and my body. How sad is that Auggie? That I am grateful for those basic freedoms and that so many women aren't as lucky or as free," she sniffled, buried her face in his chest allowed him to pull her tighter against him.

"It is unconscionable," Auggie murmured not wanting to interrupt her thoughts.

"These girls were barely past puberty, they were probably 15, not educated, with no hope of a career being sold as objects to men who wanted them for their barely discovered bodies. Being a teenage girl is terrifying in the best of situations, your body changes so much you are warned and shamed into not wanting what you want, being afraid of getting pregnant or worse and these girls were going to be dumped into this with no preparation with no support with no one," Annie was openly crying now, the tears stinging the small cuts on her face from her earlier fight.

Auggie was stunned into silence, but he nodded against her head, encouraging her to finish.

"I love my body. I love the way you love my body, it is so special and so tender, it feels good and it makes me feel powerful and strong to make those decisions for myself, to choose to share my body with you. I am so glad that that was never taken away from me, it is taken from so many women in acts of violence and commerce."

"You saved them Annie," he assured her.

"How many more are there Auggie?" her voice caught at the thought.

"I don't know," he sighed and held her as tightly as he dared.

The End of Tokelau….next week a new hot spot for our spy team.


	30. La Paz P1

Globe Trotting – La Paz P1

Notes: La Paz, Bolivia is the third largest city in Bolivia, it is the seat of their government (although not the capital) and is located in a valley surrounded by the Andes. It is located in the western part of the country not far from the borders of Peru and Chile.

***555***

The taxi dropped Annie and Auggie at the hotel and a bellman took their bags and escorted them to the front desk. Annie noted the sleek modern design of the Camino Real Suites hotel and was pleased with the upgrade in accommodations from their hut in Tokelau.

A young woman greeted them in Spanish and Annie proceeded to check in as Grace and Matthew Kendall, sliding her and Auggie's passports across the counter. Within minutes the bellman was showing them to their room on the 12th floor. He was making small talk about the hotel and the area.

Annie tipped the young man and thanked him as she closed the door behind him. Auggie was standing in the middle of the room with his cane unfurled beginning his exploration.

"The room is beautiful," Annie stated.

"Yeah?" Auggie quirked an eyebrow.

"Yep, it is large with a partial wall separating the bed from a small living area with a couch and a table. There is a good size desk and workstation and…." Annie's voice trailed off…."A lovely bathroom with a very large tub."

"Excellent," Auggie agreed.

"Despite the volume of furniture there is very little clutter and plenty of open space for you to maneuver," she reported.

"Good," Auggie smiled and used his cane to map the terrain.

Annie unpacked, keeping their swimsuits out and stored the suitcase. Auggie booted up the computer in anticipation of their conference with Calder and Joan who was back to work. Annie opened a bottle of water from the minibar and poured some for both of them, brushing the cool glass against the back of Auggie's hand.

"Thanks," he nodded drinking the water thirstily.

"More?" she offered and poured him some more as he connected to Langley.

"Hey guys," Calder greeted.

"Hey Calder," Auggie said as Annie pulled up a chair.

"Hello you two," Joan slid into view as Calder adjusted the computer.

"Hi Joan," Annie greeted, "good to see you back."

"Thanks Annie, wanted to let you both know that while you were in transit all of the women you freed in Tokelau have been accounted for, they are all home now."

"Oh good," Annie nodded.

"You did amazing work, Barber too, he got a bit of a hero's welcome here," Calder laughed.

"He did a good job, stayed cool under real pressure," Auggie smiled.

"Well this mission should be a little easier and a little more comfortable," Joan smiled back.

"We read the files on the plane, simple asset turn any number of agents could pull this off, what are we missing?" Annie asked.

"Your approach," Joan said leadingly.

"We discussed a few on the plane, she and I are similar ages and sizes thought I would talk her up at the party invite her shopping," Annie began.

"There might be something more obvious, we left it out of the file because we wanted to talk to you about it directly," Calder said.

"What's that?" Auggie asked.

"Her brother is blind," Joan said.

"Huh," Auggie shrugged.

"You're taking Auggie to the party," Calder said.

"OK," Annie caught on.

"We expect she will approach you, always better that way. We trust you two can take it from there. We would prefer you turn her and get the intel on her boss's meeting but if you don't think she'll turn we'll need to get that intel some other way," Joan explained.

"So all we want her for is the meeting place and time of her boss and Carlos Diaz?" Auggie asked confused.

"It is the minimum we need her for, getting her boss and Diaz in the same spot would be a big win, the Bolivian Government has denied working with Diaz, who is a known terrorist, proof of collusion is key. Her boss will likely be fired and Maria won't be much use to us beyond that, but if you think she could prove useful in the future and you develop a relationship with her you are certainly welcome to court her," Calder continued.

"You two are working well together," Annie quipped.

Joan just smiled tightly and Calder chuckled.

"We'll need something to wear to the party," Annie mentioned.

"On its way, expect a delivery tomorrow by noon, party starts at 7:00 until then talk about your approach and get some rest," Calder instructed and ended the call.

"I'll take this over refugee camps in Darfur and human trafficking in the South Pacific any time," Annie flopped back on the bed.

Auggie just laughed and joined her on the bed, tugging her close and kissing her deeply. Annie returned the kiss and rolled them so Auggie was on his back, she straddled his waist and broke the kiss to sit up and look down at him.

"I like this mission, no 200 mile separation, no Barber sleeping across the room and no bugs," she grinned as she ran her hands along the buttons of his shirt, plucking them open as she went.

Auggie smiled lazily and slid his hands up her thighs to the button on her jeans.

"You sure you feel good enough for this?" Auggie asked as he stroked his fingers tenderly along her bruised ribs.

"I feel good enough for this," she assured as she leaned down to kiss him again.

***555***

"What do you want to do with our free evening?" Annie asked as she snuggled into Auggie's bare chest.

"Give me 20 minutes and we can do that again," Auggie chuckled and rolled her under him.

"Pace yourself darling, we have all night, it is only 4:00," she teased and gave him a quick kiss.

"Well, I think you have earned a 24 hour vacation, what would you like to do?" Auggie turned the question around to her.

"I thought we could go sit by the pool and have a cocktail and a swim and read a book and relax for a while, then maybe some room service for dinner…" she trailed off indicating room service ensured the privacy they both craved.

"That plan has a good deal of merit," Auggie nodded.

"We could both use a drink," Annie reasoned and wiggled out from under him, heading for the bathroom.

***555***

Annie showered and slipped on her bathing suit as Auggie finished his shower. She combed her wet hair into a ponytail and found a pair of shorts and tee shirt to wear over her suit. She handed Auggie a towel and admired him openly as he twisted and turned to dry himself off.

"Are you staring at me?" he smiled.

"Me?" she asked with mock offense.

"It's not too late to just stay here for the evening," he approached her still naked, his body pink from the warm water and the towel.

"You are so tempting Anderson, but I really want to take a swim," she kissed him in the middle of his warm bare chest and pushed him towards the bed where his bathing suit waited.

He put it on with a Chicago Cubs tee shirt and slipped his feet in his sandals. Annie threw a few things in her carry-on bag and offered Auggie her arm.

"Let's go relax," she said over her shoulder.

TBC…


	31. La Paz P2

Globe Trotting – La Paz P2

They entered the warm humid indoor pool area and Annie sighed at the comforting warmth and light smell of chlorine. The space was very white, with a pool the shape of a comma, dividing the room with turquoise blue. There were single and double lounge chairs throughout the room, Annie made a path for a double happy to see only one other person in the room, a woman reading a heavy book.

Annie picked a spot where Auggie would have a clear path to the men's locker room without chance of falling in the pool, it also had the advantage of being near a wall of windows where she could watch the sun setting over the Andes.

"This is exactly what I had in mind," she chuckled as she settled into the comfy lounge chair, tucking her legs up under her.

"Good," Auggie reached over and patted her knee.

Within moments a women came out and brought them towels and took their order for drinks.

"Seems like our vacation was a million years ago," Annie remembered their time in Barbados.

"You've been through a lot since then," Auggie reminded, thinking of the emotional times with Danielle and their missions to date.

"Mmmmm," she agreed.

Their drinks arrived and Auggie held his up in anticipation.

"To enjoying the little moments," he offered and Annie gladly clinked her glass with his.

With the pool entirely to themselves, Auggie was more than happy to take a swim. Hotel pools full of shrieking children were never his thing, even when he could see, but an empty pool was a treat he was not passing up.

Annie glided through the water, feeling light and free before breaking the surface and taking a few long strokes to where Auggie was treading water.

"You were right, this was a good idea," Auggie smiled when her wet body slid against his.

"How about tomorrow night, you sure that's a good idea?" Annie asked quietly.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"You don't mind playing the bait?" she asked concerned.

"Not at all," he shook his head.

"OK," she kissed his cheek and swam off again.

***555***

A couple of cocktails later, Annie and Auggie returned to the room relaxed and a little tipsy.

"I think we need food," Auggie surmised.

"Mmmm, I am really hungry," Annie agreed.

"What do you want, I'll order?"

"I want steak," Annie said surprised at herself.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I am really hungry and we ate reconstituted meals and energy bars for 4 days on our last mission. Get lots of food, ooh and wine," she grinned.

"OK," Auggie grinned back and proceeded to order an indulgent room service meal.

Annie changed out of her wet bathing suit and into some warm pajamas and was flipping through the TV channels waiting for dinner while Auggie showered off the chlorine. As he emerged from the bathroom she squealed with delight.

"Lost is on!"

"Huh?"

"Lost, epic TV show is on local Bolivian cable," she said and realized Auggie was using her voice to make his way across the room to her.

He found her and curled around her on the couch.

"I couldn't follow Lost in English, when I could see what was happening," he admitted.

"No one could, but it was still awesome. I wonder if the polar bear is in this one," she leaned back in his embrace.

***555***

"I am so full, I might die," Annie lamented.

"It was a lot of food," Auggie agreed.

"Do you find you eat less because you don't have the visual triggers of food?"

"You mean out of sight, out of mind?" he smirked.

"Kind of, I kept eating the frites long after I was full because they were there. You stopped."

"Maybe, I never was much a snacker though, I eat when I'm hungry and that's it," Auggie shrugged.

"I am unfamiliar with that concept," Annie chuckled.

"If it is a comparable craving, I want you without seeing you," he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" she switched from her own chair to his lap.

"Oh yeah, no visual stimuli needed for me to desire you."

She kissed him them, long and deep.

"Mmmm," he leaned into the kiss, his hands slipping under her pajama top.

"You smell so good," she whispered in his ear as she nibbled on it.

He separated her lips from his body just long enough to get the top off over her head, while she worked frantically to free them from their pants in the confines of the chair they were on, neither considering stopping to relocate to a more comfortable position.

"Now?" his question sounding more like a plea.

"Uh huh," she agreed enthusiastically.

***555***

"Wow," was all Annie could muster when they were through.

"Yeah," Auggie agreed as he kissed along the column of her neck, tracing her collar bone and sliding his lips along her salty slick shoulder.

"This has been a very lovely evening," she spoke the words right against his cheek as she kissed him there.

"It certainly has," he agreed.

"It isn't over yet though," she sat up a little dislodging his lips from her shoulder and capturing them with her own.

"No?"

"No," she shook her head.

"What's next on the agenda, Miss Walker?"

"You are going to carry me to that fabulous bathtub, with the Jacuzzi jets in it, and we are going to take a bubble bath," she instructed.

"I am going to carry you there?" he smirked.

"What can I say, you've made me a little weak in the knees," she giggled as she kissed him.

TBC…

Note: This is not at all how I set out to write this chapter, but these 2 have a mind of their own. I promise we'll get to the mission eventually


End file.
